Carol Mattingly

Being a choice of excerpts from temperance fiction written by women during the nineteenth century. I have always enjoyed the genre and this is a welcome source. Unfortunately, this is an academic book compiled by an editor with a critical thesis in mind, viz., that this literature was important to the development of feminist writing and politics of the day. That's a very plausible thesis, but unfortunately the excerpts have thus been selected for their conformation to the thesis, not for reading interest. Moreover, each selection is preceded by a biographical/critical sketch which inevitably contains spoilers. Ultimately, readers who simply enjoy this as a literary genre should not expect an outstanding experience.… (meer)