Emily Hamilton and Other Writings (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780803217850)

Sukey Vickery's Emily Hamilton is an epistolary novel dealing with the courtship and marriages of three women. Originally published in 1803, it is one of the earliest examples of realist fiction in America and a departure from other novels at the turn of the nineteenth century. From the outset its author intended it as a realist project, never delving into the overly sentimental plotting or characterization present in much of the writing of Vickery's contemporaries. Emily Hamilton explores from a decidedly feminine perspective the idea of a woman's right to choose her own spouse and the importance of female friendship. Vickery's characterization of women further diverges from the typical eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century didactic of the righteous/sinful woman and depicts, instead, believable female characters exhibiting true-to-life behavior. A presentation of this novel accompanied by Vickery's poetry, letters, a diary fragment, and a few nineteenth-century responses to her work, Emily Hamilton and Other Writings is the first complete collection of Vickery's writings.

Author: Sukey Vickery
ISBN-10: 0803217854
ISBN-13: 9780803217850
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Language: English
Published: 09/01/2009
Pages: 278
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.60d

Review Citation(s):
Chronicle of Higher Education 09/04/2009 pg. 17