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Cormier Art Gallery
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synopsis:
This volume presents "the autobiography and journals of Catharine Maria Sedgwick, . . . the author of six novels and close to 100 tales published between 1822-1857." (Choice) Index.
Reviews:
From D.D. Knight - Choice
Kelley (Dartmouth College) has performed an invaluable service to students of 19th-century American literature. . . . Sedgwick was a literary pioneer whose works and reputation helped open the field to other women writers in the 19th century. . . . The publication of her autobiography and journals will make available in her own words Sedgwick's view on such topics as her childhood experiences, family relationships, educational background, and her ambivalence about her celebrated public career. Kelley's lucidly written and well-documented critical introduction is informative, and it places Sedgwick's writing in the social, political, and historical contexts of the years spanning the American Revolution and the Civil War. Moreover, Kelley traces the means by which Sedgwick negotiates the gender conventions of antebellum America in order to define a persona that was uniquely her own. An indispensable resource for any library.
From Patricia Larson Kalayjian - American Literature
Mary Kelley has edited a welcome volume. . . . Scholars interested in Sedgwick either as an influential and critically acclaimed writer or as an important public (and fascinating private) figure must greet Kelley's work warmly.
From Library Journal
Sedgwick (1789-1867), one of America's earliest woman authors, wrote six novels and nearly 100 stories, many of which directly challenged the social and political mores of the new nation (e.g., Clarence ; The Linwoods ). Raised in a close-knit, politically active Massachusetts family (her father was a senator), Sedgwick never married. She spent much of her life defending that decision (as in Married or Single? ), claiming that ``a wedding was rather a sundering than a forming of ties.'' Her autobiography (written for her niece Alice) and journals show that she grappled with many ``modern'' problems, such as her place in society. (Sedgwick's life has also been chronicled in G. Brooks's Three Wise Virgins , LJ 10/15/57.) Editor Kelly's introduction provides important background information and fills in narrative gaps. Highly recommended.-- Diane Gardner Premo, SILS, SUNY
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