Like Unto Like (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781570031847)

A coming-of-age story and commentary on the trials of womanhood in the Reconstruction South

Originally published in 1878 after Henry Wadsworth Longfellow recommended it to Harper and Brothers, Like Unto Like marks the emergence of a feminist critique of southern society a full generation before Ellen Glasgow and Kate Chopin published their well-known works. The novel follows a romance between a free-spirited, intellectual southerner, Blythe Herndon, and a former abolitionist and Union soldier, Roger Ellis. Seeing marriage to an outsider as an escape from the strictures of southern society, Blythe soon realizes that even Roger will expect deference from his wife. She acknowledges her inability, despite a desire to be free from convention, to accept Roger's egalitarian views on race relations, his notions of free love, and his past affair with a married woman.

In addition to warning female readers of the potential dangers of marriage, Bonner recognizes the importance of race in southern attitudes and breaks new ground in creating a range of African American characters. Jane Turner Censer's new introduction accords Bonner the long-delayed literary recognition she deserves.

Author: Sherwood Bonner,Katherine Sherwood Bonner McDowell
ISBN-10: 1570031843
ISBN-13: 9781570031847
Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
Language: English
Published: 06/01/1997
Pages: 252
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.98lbs
Size: 9.04h x 6.06w x 0.72d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 05/01/1997 pg. 145
Library Journal 11/15/1997 pg. 80
Publishers Weekly 05/12/1997