The Lamplighter - Cummins, Maria S.

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Résumé :
Second only in sales to Uncle Tom's Cabin during the nineteenth century, The Lamplighter tells the story of the development of a young, orphaned girl into a resilient, capable young woman who gets her man - her childhood compatriot. Gerty is an orphaned hellion, physically and mentally abused by the brutal and miserly Nan Grant: No one loved her, and she loved no one; no one treated her kindly; no one tried to make her happy, or cared whether she were so. She was but eight years old and all alone in the world. Gerty is rescued by Trueman Flint, a kindly lamplighter who teaches her about love and respect. A second teacher enters in the form of saintly, blind Emily Graham, who brings a reverence for God into Gerty's life. Maria Susanna Cummins was an American novelist. The Lamplighter is a sentimental book one reviewer calling it one of the most original and natural narratives. Within eight weeks of first being published, it sold 40,000 copies and totaled 70,000 by the end of its first year in print. Cummins wrote other books, including Mabel Vaughan, none of which had the same success

Sommaire:
Maria Susanna Cummins was an American novelist. She wrote the extremely popular novel The Lamplighter (1854). Maria Susanna Cummins was born in Salem, Massachusetts on April 9, 1827. She was the eldest of four children born to Honorable David Cummins and Maria F. Kittredge. The Cummins family lived in the Dorchester area of Boston, Massachusetts. Cummins' father encouraged her to be a writer from an early age. She attended Mrs. Charles Sedgwick's Young Ladies School in Lenox, Massachusetts. In 1854, she released The Lamplighter, a sentimental story that was highly successful and made its author famous. According to one reviewer, it is one of the most original and natural narratives. Within eight weeks, it sold 40,000 copies, reaching 70,000 by the conclusion of its first year in print. She authored several other books, including Mabel Vaughan (1857), but none of them were as successful. Cummins also contributed to some of the popular publications of her time. Cummins died on October 1, 1866, in Dorchester, following a period of sickness at the age of 39....