Synopses & Reviews
The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett is one of the most important works of New England local color fiction. This collection of essays builds on feminist literary scholarship that affirms the value of Jewett's work, but goes beyond previously published studies by offering an analysis of how race, nationalism, and the literary marketplace shape her narrative. The volume constitutes a major rethinking of Jewett's contribution to American literature, and will be of interest to the fields of American literary studies, feminist cultural criticism, and American studies.
Review
"...the five essays in this book...represent the very latest and best in feminist literary criticism." Key Reporter"Well-written and containing useful summaries of recent criticism, this work is valuable for anyone engaged with Jewett, feminist criticism, or regional writing. It should be the basis for more detailed examinations of 19th- and 20th-century visions of community. Recommended for all libraries." M. L. Robertson, Choice
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Sarah Orne Jewett and the traffic in words June Howard; 2. Countryâs Portrayal of community and the exclusion of difference Sandra Abelson Zagarell; 3. Gender and American realism in The Country of the Pointed Firs Michael Davitt Bell; 4. Material culture, empire, and Jewettâs The Country of the Pointed Firs, Elizabeth Ammons; 5. Regionalism and nationalism in Jewettâs The Country of the Pointed Firs Susan Gillman.