Its contrived plot follows the fortunes of three families with roots in the South: the dark-skinned Ellises, the interracial Garies, and the white Stevenses, headed by the villainous “slippery” George. Published four years after William Wells Brown's Clotel, The Garies is the second of four African American novels published prior to the Civil War. Webb's contribution to African American literature is to be found in the number of pioneering themes and subjects addressed in The Garies. The Garies's prefaces by Stowe and Lord Brougham, both abolitionists, suggest he may have also played a role in the antislavery movement. Drawing on these experiences, Webb's novelettes focus on the leisure-time activities of upper-class society in London, Paris, and Cannes. After growing up there, he likely resided in England sometime prior to the London publication of The Garies and may have moved in wealthy European social circles. According to Stowe, he was born in Philadelphia, probably in the late 1820s or early 1830s. Webb's life comes from Harriet Beecher Stowe's brief preface to The Garies. (?–?), author of The Garies and Their Friends (1857) and two novelettes, “Two Wolves and a Lamb,” (1870) and “Marvin Hayle” (1870).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |