Sowing and Reaping (1876) is a novel by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. One of the first novels published by an African American woman, Sowing and Reaping is a story of friendship, romance, and tragedy that advocates for temperance nationwide. Originally published in serial format in the Christian Recorder, an important and historical periodical connected to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Sowing and Reaping was rediscovered in the late twentieth century and has since been recognized as a groundbreaking work of fiction by the first African American woman to publish a novel.
Discussing the recent closure of John Andrews’ saloon, Paul Clifford and John Anderson reveal the starkly opposing natures which collide within their friendship. Although both consider themselves businessmen, Paul—whose father died young from alcoholism—always places morality ahead of opportunity while John, a pragmatist at heart, places his personal interests ahead of everything. Scolding his friend for not capitalizing on the bankruptcy of a local man, John presages the tragic events to come. As Paul falls in love with Belle through their mutual advocacy of temperance, John tries his hand as a saloon owner himself, indulging in and selling alcohol while turning a blind eye to his son’s increasing dependence on drinking. Written in straightforward prose, Sowing and Reaping is a politically conscious novel concerned with the cause of temperance in a time when families and communities were frequently torn apart by alcoholism.
This edition of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s Sowing and Reaping is a classic of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.
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Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911) was an African American abolitionist, suffragist, poet, and novelist. Born free in Baltimore, Maryland, Harper became one of the first women of color to publish in the United States when her debut poetry collection Forest Leaves appeared in 1845. In 1850, she began to teach sewing at Union Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. The following year, alongside chairman of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society William Still, she began working as an abolitionist in earnest, helping slaves escape to Canada along the Underground Railroad. In 1854, having established herself as a prominent public speaker and political activist, Harper published Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects, a resounding critical and commercial success. Over the course of her life, Harper founded and participated in several progressive organizations, including the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the National Association of Colored Women. At the age of sixty-seven, Harper published Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted, becoming one of the first African American women to publish a novel.
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