A New Home--Who'll Follow? or Glimpses of Western Life
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Book Overview
Set in the frontier of Michigan int he 1830s, A New Home is the first realistic portrayal of western village life in the United States. Based on Caroline Kirkland's own experiences - and written from a woman's perspective - it narrates with a keen eye and wit the absorbing story of the establishment of the village of Montacute, Michigan. A New Home is a vivid contribution to a new kind of narrative developed during the antebellum period, ethnographic fiction. Kirkland highlights the importance and the drama of local practices and everyday life in Montacute. She traces the way two groups of settlers slowly adjust to each other - the old hands and the newcomers from the East;. Dramatizing differences of class and culture, she also shows how the groups finally form a genuine community and a new, diverse culture. Kirkland also gives ethnographic fiction an original twist: she satirizes the provincialism and the rigidity of both groups of settlers. After writing A New Home, Kirkland became a professional literary woman, working as an editor as well as a writer. In her introduction, Sandra Zagarell explores the implications of Kirkland's writing and professional career for our understanding of women, writing, and the world of literature in antebellum America.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0813515424
ISBN13:9780813515427
Release Date:April 1990
Publisher:Rutgers University Press
Length:272 Pages
Weight:0.76 lbs.
Dimensions:0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Satire of the old west...
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
When the author, Caroline Kirkland, decided to write about her neighbors in frontier Michigan all she did to cover herself was change the names. Why her insight into frontier life and values are interesting and funny she got in trouble for it. After that her writing would never be as honest. And I hope she also learned something about pacing, run on sentences, and focus. The only problem I had really with her first work is not her work, but the long introduction to the book by Sandra A. Zagarell which gives you a summary of the book you are about to read plus a summary of the author's life. Most of the time I would welcome such information to help me truly understand the book. But the introduction is 31 pages long and that is not counting the Notes to the introduction. I would state that it is a must for understanding frontier life, but being a satire that would be like saying that Blazing Saddles is a good source for life in the Old West. I would suggest getting it, cheap, and reading on one of those weekends, or weeks, when you're ill or something.
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