Evelyn; or A Heart Unmasked - Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie

Evelyn is a two-volume novel told in an epistolary style – alternating between letters from the point of view of a trusted, unmarried female friend of the young, naïve heroine of the novel and those of the feckless adventurer who decides that he must seduce the beautiful Evelyn. The author, actress/novelist/playwright Anna Cora Mowatt, was a fan of the works of Fredericka Bremer (early feminist author, sometimes called the “Swedish Jane Austen”). This narrative is heavily influenced by that writer’s style. Like Mowatt’s hit comedy, “Fashion,” the plot centers on the misadventures of nouveau riche family social climbing in New York society of the late 1830’s. Whereas the play was comedy, the novel turns towards tragedy. The author still spices her narrative with strong doses of social satire, however, and gives us many revealing glimpses of everyday life of New Yorkers of the early 19th century. - Summary by Kelly S. Taylor