Euphemia (Broadview Editions) [Paperback]

Charlotte Lennox (Author), Susan Kubica Howard (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1551116189 | ISBN-13: 978-1551116181 | Publication Date: September 8, 2008 | Edition: 1

Charlotte Lennox's Euphemia, published in 1790 at the end of her professional career, is an extraordinary account of pre-Revolutionary America from a woman's perspective. Constructed from letters between Euphemia Neville and her friend Maria Harley, the novel tells the story of Euphemia's marriage to a thoughtless, arrogant man. During the years Euphemia lives in New York City and at the forts at Albany and Schenectady as the wife of a British army officer, she chronicles in her letters to Maria both her private life and how that life intersects with those of other British men and women, as well as the Dutch, Native American, and African American inhabitants of the colony. Set partially in New York State, where Lennox had herself lived as a girl, it also contains a version of a captivity narrative in the story of the capture of Euphemia's son by Hurons.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Charlotte Lennox's Euphemia, published in 1790 at the end of her professional career, is an extraordinary account of pre-Revolutionary America from a woman's perspective. Constructed from letters between Euphemia Neville and her friend Maria Harley, the novel tells the story of Euphemia's marriage to a thoughtless, arrogant man. During the years Euphemia lives in New York City and at the forts at Albany and Schenectady as the wife of a British army officer, she chronicles in her letters to Maria both her private life and how that life intersects with those of other British men and women, as well as the Dutch, Native American, and African American inhabitants of the colony. Set partially in New York State, where Lennox had herself lived as a girl, it also contains a version of a captivity narrative in the story of the capture of Euphemia's son by Hurons.

About the Author

Susan Kubica Howard is Associate Professor of English at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is the editor of the Broadview Edition of Frances Burney's Evelina.

Product Details

• Paperback: 472 pages
• Publisher: Broadview Press; 1 edition (September 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551116189
• ISBN-13: 978-1551116181
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,619,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Restoration" of Female Friendship in 18th cen Fiction, February 13, 2001

By 

John Bouvier (Birmingham AL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Euphemia (Scholars Facsimiles and Reprints) (Hardcover)

Charlotte Lennox's epistolary novel "Euphemia" details the 12 year friendship of two separated friends; Euphemia Neville and Maria Harley. Separated by the Atlantic Ocean, each young heroine must learn to deal with her individual situation by trusting her own prudence, which is additionally supported by an endearing female friendship as revealed in the poignant letters exchanged between them. Typical 18th century novels end with a restoration of name, fortune, family, and ultimately in a marriage; symbolic of God's divine plan for humankind. The idea comes from the book of Revelation in which St John writes that the end of time will culiminate with a marriage between Christ and the earthly church. In Lennox's novel; however, the "marriage" or "restoration" is a restoration between two friends. The novel is different from other 18th century novels in that the conclusion validates the close bond between two women rather than a marriage between a man and a woman. This "novel" approach to ending a piece of fiction would allow for an expansion of literary ideas and motifs that would only complement and expand the vast writings of great 18th century writers like Lennox

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two fascinating tales in one, December 18, 2010

By 

Patto (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Euphemia (Broadview Editions) (Paperback)

EUPHEMIA is an amazing mix of love stories, exotic adventures and social critique - ever so cleverly plotted. I was totally absorbed by it.

Two beautiful young women - wise, high-principled and intelligent - are fast friends. Separated by circumstances, they correspond fervently, giving us a fascinating picture of friendship - and of two very different lives in eighteenth-century England and colonial America.

Maria's is the more conventional eighteenth-century tale. A dependent orphan, she must deal skillfully with her rich uncle, his conniving young wife - and a family feud that threatens Maria's happiness.

Euphemia is already married when we meet her - rare in this period when most novels focused on courtship. To please her dying mother, Euphemia has married a man she can never love - a selfish, tyrannical, cold-hearted British officer. He takes her to the wilds of America to live at a British trading post - with terrible consequences.

EUPHEMIA was published in 1790. Reviewers were impressed with the vibrancy and authenticity of the author's observations of America. In describing Dutch traders, vagrant natives and picturesque trips up the Hudson, Charlotte Lennox wrote from experience. She spent several years in Albany, where her father served with the British army.

Charlotte Lennox was equally well qualified to write about an unhappy marriage, being yoked like Euphemia to a man who gave her nothing but trouble. The scholarly introduction explores the underlying political agenda of Lennox, who subtly challenges both British imperialism and misogynistic marriage laws in EUPHEMIA.

Lennox was a remarkable woman. After her American girlhood, she surfaced in London to write her first novel at age twenty. A protégée of Samuel Johnson, she became a dominant figure on the London literary scene as playwright, novelist, poet, publisher and translator.

I loved EUPHEMIA, and can also recommend Lennox's SOPHIA, which I read recently.