A New England Tale (1822). By

Jane Elton, orphaned as a young girl, goes to live with her aunt Mrs. Wilson, a selfish and overbearing woman who practices a repressive Calvinism. In their rural New England village, Jane grows up yearning to break free from Mrs. Wilson's tyranny and find her place as a citizen of the evolving American Republic. She is helped by her encounters with characters who embody various shadings of moral, religious, and civic virtue: the affectionate servant Mary Hull, a pious Methodist; Mr. Lloyd, a kind Quaker; Crazy Bet, emotional, sympathetic, but deeply unstable; and Old John, bereaved but wise. Ultimately, A New-England Tale is about the connection between parenting and governing, and the key role women play in shaping a fledgling nation........... Catharine Maria Sedgwick (December 28, 1789 - July 31, 1867) was an American novelist of what is sometimes referred to as "domestic fiction". She promoted Republican motherhood. Early life: Catharine Maria Sedgwick was born December 28, 1789 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Her mother was Pamela Dwight (1752-1807) of the New England Dwight family, daughter of General Joseph Dwight (1703-1765) and granddaughter of Ephraim Williams, founder of Williams College. Her father was Theodore Sedgwick (1746-1813), a prosperous lawyer and successful politician. He was later elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and in 1802 was appointed a justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. As a child, Sedgwick was cared for by Elizabeth Freeman, a former slave whose freedom Theodore Sedgwick helped gain by arguing her case in county court in 1781. After winning her freedom Freeman declined her previous owner's job offer, and instead accepted a job working for the Sedgwick family. As a young woman, Sedgwick attended a finishing school in Boston to complete her education. One of her schoolmates, Susan Anne Ridley Sedgwick (1788-1867), would become her sister-in-law and a published author. Personal life: Sedgwick was engaged at one point to Harmanus Bleecker, a friend of her father and law partner of her brother Theodore (1780-1839). They did not marry, and Sedgwick turned down several other marriage proposals, instead choosing to remain single and focus on her career. Career: As a young woman, Sedgwick took charge of a school in Lenox. She converted from Calvinism to Unitarianism, which led her to write a pamphlet denouncing religious intolerance. This further inspired her to write her first novel, A New-England Tale. With her work much in demand, from the 1820s to the 1850s, Sedgwick made a good living writing short stories for a variety of periodicals. She died in 1867, and by the end of the 19th century, she had been relegated to near obscurity. There was a rise of male critics who deprecated women's writing as they worked to create an American literature. Interest in Sedgwick's works and an appreciation of her contribution to American literature has been stimulated by the late 20th century's feminist movement. Beginning in the 1960s, feminist scholars began to re-evaluate women's contributions to literature and other arts, and created new frames of reference for considering their work. In addition, the advent of low-cost electronic reproductions, which became available at the end of the 20th century, made Sedgwick and other nineteenth-century authors' work more accessible for study and pleasure. Edgar Allan Poe described Sedgwick in his "The Literati of New York City" (1846)....