Harriet Beecher Stowe is a familiar name to students of literature and history. However, many of the details we “know” about her and about her most famous book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, are based more in myth than in her actual life. One of the goals of this book is to peel back the sometimes contradictory elements of that mythology. Another is to position her work within the context of her own day, while also acknowledging the major critical controversies that have swarmed around her since then.

Although Stowe was a major figure in American and world literary culture throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, she faded from view through much of the twentieth. Feminist scholarship re-ignited interest in Stowe in the 1970s, and research on her life and writing has expanded a good deal since then. Questions about the literary value of her publications and about her personal attitudes on race continue to puzzle general readers and academics, however. And these questions provide one major rationale for studying Stowe today.

Acquiring a clear sense of Stowe's life, her writing, and its place in literary history can be challenging, given the wide range of opinions about her. This book will serve as a basic introduction to such topics. The “Life” chapter offers a biographical overview. “Cultural Contexts” provides a survey of significant issues and trends shaping Stowe's career. The “Works” chapter explores her major publications.