was the second of Cummins’s four novels, all published anonymously although her identity soon became known. Her books were immensely popular, especially among middle-class female readers. Nina Baym characterises Cummins’s first novel,

(1854) as “the orphan’s rise”, and

as “the heiress’s fortunate fall”: both are “stories of spiritual as well as social regeneration” (170). Cummins was a devout Unitarian, and her books advocate a form of Protestantism that is grounded in the concept of the individual being fundamentally capable but needing to be strengthened by a spiritual understanding of experience. Like many other sentimental novels,

preaches the virtues of sobriety, patience, and faith. Goetz Egloff…

1745 words

Citation: Rees, Kathy. "Mabel Vaughan". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 November 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35842, accessed 26 November 2024.]