• History meets Fiction

• “Historians tell their stories as much as do novelists - and through much  as the same means- by what they bring in and what they leave out, by how they structure their material, and to what end. One story (history) seeking to explain another (fiction) can only extend or circumnutate it” (Davidson 70)

The major contribution of this essay is that it shows how the author, or in this case the editor, took a real place (Fall River) and added a little bit of fiction without taking the history out of the novel.  The story is being enhanced instead of changed. Patricia Caldwell even put the real letters that S.M C wrote into the novel. This helps readers understand the reality of what had happened in Fall River which helps build a connection between reader and author. Additionally, Catherine Williams recreated an incident that has already happened in Fall River, therefore, readers can also get a sense of the historical context of this town.  

•  Women readership/ how women readership changed the novels

• “Female readership became a significant literary and sociology phenomenon. It should also be noted that women, in particular, flocked to the new lending libraries...The clear gender differentiation in the case of Fisher’s self-help book highlights the complex case of fiction- and the ambiguous status of women as implied women of early American fiction” (Davidson 65).

The major contribution in this quote shows the status that women had, not only in society but even in novels. For instance, in Fall River many people blamed the pregnant woman for her own death and even said that she deserved it. We also see the inferiority of women in Moll Flanders when she believes that she needs a husband to strive. Even female characters are more prevalent, it seems as if something bad always happened to them in novels during this time. This mistreatment of females in novels can be shadowed by what is happening in society during this time.