|
Showing 1 - 23 of
23 matches in All Departments
The Garies and Their Friends (1857) is a novel by Frank J. Webb.
Published at the height of the abolitionist movement, Webb's novel
was only the second in history by an African American writer.
Although it is his only novel, The Garies and Their Friends is a
testament to Webb's skills as a writer and political thinker, a man
who explored themes of racial passing and Northern racism decades
before such topics were common in African American literature.
Although his novel was relatively unpopular-perhaps due to his
refusal to sentimentalize both Northern white and free Black
communities-it gained scholarly attention and critical acclaim in
the latter half of the twentieth century, and has since been
recognized as a significant work of African American fiction.
Clarence Garie, a white planter from Georgia, and his common-law
wife Emily, raise their two children together with the acceptance
of a Southern community accustomed to such relationships between
masters and slaves. Fearing what should happen to her and her
children if Clarence were to die, Emily persuades her husband to
move their family to Philadelphia, where they hope to be accepted
by the city's well-established community of free African Americans.
When they get there, however, they encounter prejudice from their
neighbors as well as the growing Irish immigrant population.
Together with their friends the Ellises, the Garie family becomes
the target of vicious attacks by George Stevens, a bigoted attorney
looking to incite a race riot in the city. Soon, tragedy strikes,
exposing the deep-rooted divides of a nation only a few years away
from civil war. With a beautifully designed cover and
professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Frank J. Webb's
The Garies and Their Friends is a classic work of African American
literature reimagined for modern readers.
The Garies and Their Friends (1857) is a novel by Frank J. Webb.
Published at the height of the abolitionist movement, Webb's novel
was only the second in history by an African American writer.
Although it is his only novel, The Garies and Their Friends is a
testament to Webb's skills as a writer and political thinker, a man
who explored themes of racial passing and Northern racism decades
before such topics were common in African American literature.
Although his novel was relatively unpopular-perhaps due to his
refusal to sentimentalize both Northern white and free Black
communities-it gained scholarly attention and critical acclaim in
the latter half of the twentieth century, and has since been
recognized as a significant work of African American fiction.
Clarence Garie, a white planter from Georgia, and his common-law
wife Emily, raise their two children together with the acceptance
of a Southern community accustomed to such relationships between
masters and slaves. Fearing what should happen to her and her
children if Clarence were to die, Emily persuades her husband to
move their family to Philadelphia, where they hope to be accepted
by the city's well-established community of free African Americans.
When they get there, however, they encounter prejudice from their
neighbors as well as the growing Irish immigrant population.
Together with their friends the Ellises, the Garie family becomes
the target of vicious attacks by George Stevens, a bigoted attorney
looking to incite a race riot in the city. Soon, tragedy strikes,
exposing the deep-rooted divides of a nation only a few years away
from civil war. With a beautifully designed cover and
professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Frank J. Webb's
The Garies and Their Friends is a classic work of African American
literature reimagined for modern readers.
Mrs. Garie had determined not to be sea-sick upon any account
whatever, being fully persuaded she could brave the ocean with
impunity, and was, accordingly, very brisk and blithe-looking, as
she walked up and down upon the deck of the vessel. In the course
of a few hours they sailed out of the harbour, and were soon in the
open sea. She began to find out how mistaken she had been, as
unmistakable symptoms convinced her of the vanity of all human
calculations. "Why, you are not going to be ill, Em, after all your
valiant declarations " exclaimed Mr. Garie, supporting her unsteady
steps, as they paced to and fro.
Unjustly overlooked in its own time, Frank J. Webb's novel of
pre-Civil War Philadelphia weaves together action, humor, and
social commentary. The Garies and Their Friends tells the story of
two families struggling for di| erent sorts of respectability: the
Garies, a well-to-do interracial couple who relocate to
Philadelphia from the plantation South in order to legalize their
marriage, and their friends the Ellises, free black Philadelphians
hoping to make the move from the working class into the
bourgeoisie. Along the way the families confront racialized
violence, melodramatic villainy, and sentimental reversals.
Entertaining and fastmoving, the novel has a Dickensian mix of
uncanny coincidence and interwoven personal experiences. The
historical documents accompanying this Broadview Edition provide
reviews of the novel along with extensive materials on slavery, the
color line, and contemporary Philadelphia.
This book is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical
literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles
have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades.
The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to
promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a
TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the
amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series,
tredition intends to make thousands of international literature
classics available in printed format again - worldwide.
This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It
contains classical literature works from over two thousand years.
Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore
shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the
cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical
literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the
mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from
oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of
international literature classics available in printed format again
- worldwide.
The Garies and Their Friends was written in 1857 with a preface by
Harriet Beecher Stowe. Frank Webb was a black man born in
Philadelphia. Being one of the nearest free cities of any size to
the slave territory, it was been a sanctuary for escaping fugitive
or emancipated slaves. Mr. Garies was a slave-owning Southerner.
His beloved wife was once a slave. They had two mixed-race
children. To escape the racism of the South and the strict laws of
Georgia prohibiting freedom for the children, the family moves to
Philadelphia. They moved into a white neighborhood. Here they meet
their remarkable "friends," including the middle-class and black
Ellis family. They soon find out that Northern racism is different
and equally dangerous. The wife next door is appalled by their new
mixed-race neighbors, and her husband concocts a plot to rob the
Garies of their wealth.
Mrs. Garie had determined not to be sea-sick upon any account
whatever, being fully persuaded she could brave the ocean with
impunity, and was, accordingly, very brisk and blithe-looking, as
she walked up and down upon the deck of the vessel. In the course
of a few hours they sailed out of the harbour, and were soon in the
open sea. She began to find out how mistaken she had been, as
unmistakable symptoms convinced her of the vanity of all human
calculations. "Why, you are not going to be ill, Em, after all your
valiant declarations!" exclaimed Mr. Garie, supporting her unsteady
steps, as they paced to and fro.
Mrs. Garie had determined not to be sea-sick upon any account
whatever, being fully persuaded she could brave the ocean with
impunity, and was, accordingly, very brisk and blithe-looking, as
she walked up and down upon the deck of the vessel. In the course
of a few hours they sailed out of the harbour, and were soon in the
open sea. She began to find out how mistaken she had been, as
unmistakable symptoms convinced her of the vanity of all human
calculations. "Why, you are not going to be ill, Em, after all your
valiant declarations " exclaimed Mr. Garie, supporting her unsteady
steps, as they paced to and fro.
In this novel set in antebellum America, the Garies--a white
southerner, his mulatto slave-turned-wife, and their two
children--have moved to Philadelphia from Georgia.
Originally published in London in 1857, "The Garies and Their
Friends" was the second novel published by an African American and
the first to chronicle the experience of free blacks in the
pre-Civil War northeast. The novel anticipates themes that were to
become important in later African American fiction, including
miscegenation and "passing," and tells the story of the Garies and
their friends, the Ellises, a "highly respectable and industrious
coloured family."
"It is remarkable that, even as the study of African American
literature and culture has become central to any number of projects
within American intellectual life, so little attention has been
given a work as significant as Frank J. Webb's "The Garies and
Their Friends.""--from the 1997 introduction by Robert
Reid-Pharr
|
|