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Neglected sadly
Harper was a major political, economic, and educational figure in the entire period from the civil war until the turn of the century. The sweep of this book is that entire period.In this way Harper is really registering what is the last in a long dialog of texts about what social power can or did overthrow slavery, and what forces are behind this.Harper's opening chapters about the slaves under slavery, the slaves during the civil war, their actual role in stopping the confederacy, the intelligence of the slaves, and all are not just idle depictions, but responses to those like Delany who felt the slaves were incapable of revoltion.Harper's analysis of the strength and the struggle of the freedmen and freedwomen after slavery tends to also reply to the debate about whether they were worthy of freedom, and whether the fall of reconstruction was inevitable.
At times Harper's concern for these debates weakens the plot as a modern reader would see it.Moreover, though her description of struggle through out the early parts of the book is gripping, as you gets to the close without more to offer than education and social uplift, the book also tends to seem weak to the modern reader trained to more visceral and personalized plotting.When Harper wrote, particularly in the tradition she writes, often the overall message as she delivers it, was seen so much more important than the plot. A message such as this was what the reader bought a book for then.

Like Blake and Incidents in the Life ofa Slave Girl this is a historic document. Unlike so of those texts, this is written with hind sight from decades latter, by one of the last of the pre-civil war Black literary/political intellectuals to survive.

A Beautiful, Optimistic novel from the Age of Reaction
While it might easily be regarded solely as a criticism on slavery, Frances E.W. Harper's Iola Leroy is a novel that tackles an infinite array of issues affecting the black race, and America in general, during the late19th century. These issues range from gender, to internalized racismamong the Negro of lighter skin color, the infamous "Negroquestion," the hypocrisy of religion, and many others. Tne mostundeniable value of the book, is the call that the author makes forliteracy, temperance, and the uplifting of the race.

Harper, likeDubois, is optimistic about the future and potential of African-Americans.She sustains that now that the doors of education, religious freedom, andof economy and capitalism are open to the race the expectations are greatboth on the part of the whites and the blacks themselves.

Theundeniable value of the book, is the call that the author makes forliteracy, temperance, and the uplifting of the race. This novel deservesextensive study not only as a feminist or ethnic work; it is one of thebasic works of American Literature which can be read and enjoyed by anyoneinterested in social issues and fine reading material. ... Read more

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Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was an African American abolitionist and poet. Born free in Baltimore, Maryland, she started writing early and had her first book of poetry published when she was 20 years old.
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Frances Smith Foster has rediscovered three novels by Frances E.W. Harper, the best-known Africa-American writer of the nineteeny century and author of the classic Iola Leroy.Originally serialized in issues of THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER between 1868 and 1888, these works are the first written specifically for an African-American audience; they address issues of passing, social responsibility, courtship, sexuality, and temperance.Winner of the College Language Associateion Book Award, these novels make a profound contribution to our understanding of a crucial era in American history ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University LibraryÕs preservation reformatting program. ... Read more

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civil war drama
This historical novel poigniantly illustrates one woman's struggle for racial identity and the reunion of her family. Set during upheaval of the US Civil War, Iola leroy; or, shadows uplifted is written from a point of view never before, or since acknowledged. Written in the late 1800's, Frances E.W.Harper was the first famous black-woman novelist in US history. A "must read" for all Americans interested in our shared past; our untold story. ... Read more

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This collection has been develop and optimized for use on the Kindle, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Palm, Symbian and other devices including your PC. It includes a hypertext Table of Contents for each title making it very easy to navigate the author and the works included. It has also been compressed so it takes up the least space possible on your computer or mobile device.

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It has been quite a length of time since we left Mr. Thomas and his young friend facing an uncertain future. Since then he has not only been successful in building up a good business for himself, but in opening the gates to others. His success has not inflated him with pride. Neither has he become self-abashed and isolated from others less fortunate, who need his counsel and sympathy. Generous and noble in his character, he was conservative enough to cling to the good of the past and radical enough to give hospitality to every new idea which was calculated to benefit and make life noble and better. ... Read more

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Edited by Frances Smith Foster

Winner of the College Language Association Book Award

Frances Smith Foster has rediscovered three novels by Frances E. W. Harper that were originally serialized in The Christian Recorder between 1868 and 1888. These works, the first written for African-Americans, address issues of passing, social responsibility, sexuality, and temperance.

"Foster's discovery . . . may well be the literary find of the century."
— Quarterly Black Review ... Read more

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Miriam sat in her lowly cabin, painfully rocking her body to and fro; for a great sorrow had fallen upon her life. She had been the mother of three children, two had died in their infancy, and now her last, her loved and only child was gone, but not like the rest, who had passed away almost as soon as their little feet had touched the threshold of existence. She had been entangled in the mazes of sin and sorrow; and her sun had gone down in darkness. It was the old story. Agnes, fair, young and beautiful, had been a slave, with no power to protect herself from the highest insults that brutality could offer to innocence. Bound hand and foot by that system, which has since gone down in wrath, and blood, and tears, she had fallen a victim to the wiles and power of her master; and the result was the introduction of a child of shame into a world of sin and suffering; for herself an early grave; and for her mother a desolate and breaking heart.

While Miriam was sitting down hopelessly beneath the shadow of her mighty grief, gazing ever and anon on the pale dead face, which seemed to bear in its sad but gentle expression, an appeal from earth to heaven, some of the slaves would hurry in, and looking upon the fair young face, would drop a word of pity for the weeping mother, and then hurry on to their appointed tasks. All day long Miriam sat alone with her dead, except when these kindly interruptions broke upon the monotony of her sorrow.


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This work approaches Frances Harper as a feminist and as a writer. The author, Melba Boyd, reflects upon the impact of Harper's legacy on another artist/activist - herself. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Iola Leroy; or Shadows Uplifted es la novela m?s importante que escribi? Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911), una de las reformistas y escritoras afroamericanas m?s famosas de su tiempo. Tanto en su obra literaria y ensay?stica como en su faceta de o ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Perils of Public Poetry
A much finer collection of Harper's verse than this could be made. Here are collected the most standard examples of Harper's public verse--in which the voice is declamatory and oratorical in a most wooden way and effective only in the public lecture hall. Not even "The Slave Mother" is here, the best of that type. Missing from his collection are the Aunt Chloe poems, the high point of her poetic output, where the public voice is dropped for the more intimate folk voice. The introduction to this book is plebian, revealing a weak literary sensibility. ... Read more