Harriet Beecher Stowe

Uncle Tom, Topsy, Sambo, Simon Legree, little Eva: their names are American bywords, and all of them are characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe's remarkable novel of the pre-Civil War South. Uncle Tom's Cabin was revolutionary in 1852 for its passionate indictment of slavery and for its presentation of Tom, "a man of humanity," as the first black hero in American fiction. Labeled racist and condescending by some contemporary critics, it remains a shocking,...

Mary Scudder and her mother live a modest life in a community known for its engagement in both religious piety and the slave trade. Their boarder is a famous Calvinist theologian who preaches against slavery. Torn between her Calvinist upbringing and her love for the skeptic James Marvyn, Mary is forced to make a decision about her future when Marvyn is reportedly lost at sea.