Catharine Sedgwick, Redwood: A Tale
Catharine Sedgwick
Edited by Jenifer B. Elmore
- Completes the modern scholarly library of Sedgwick’s major novels
- Includes an historically and theoretically informed critical introduction that situates the novel within American social and literary history
- Clear and extensive annotations guide readers, particularly undergraduate students, through the novel’s historical, geographical, literary, and religious references
Redwood follows Ellen Bruce as she enters adulthood, navigating the clashing social currents of pious New England farmers, southern belles from South Carolina, slave-owning atheists from Virginia, and sophisticated Philadelphia socialites on her journey to discover the secret of her parentage and craft her own identity as a strong American woman. The novel's embedded slave narrative provides a powerful early prototype for later anti-slavery fiction. Ellen's formidable mentor, Debby Lenox, a single woman who stands over six feet tall and makes her own rules about what constitutes respectable behaviour for women, is remarkably refreshing and original almost two centuries after Sedgwick crafted her.
AcknowledgementsEditor’s IntroductionSelected BibliographyNote on the TextChronology of Sedgwick’s Life and WorksCast of Characters
Redwood: A Tale
Appendix A: Sedgwick’s Preface to the 1850 editionAppendix B: Significant Revisions for the 1850 editionExplanatory Notes
Today’s readers can now take pleasure in Redwood, the novel in which Sedgwick dismantles gender conventions that call for female deference and dependence and installs in their stead heroines who are independent actors. We are indebted to Jenifer Elmore’s splendid introduction that not only situates Redwood in its larger historical context, but also highlights the novel’s significance in transatlantic literary culture.
