VOA文化艺术2024--The Story of America's First Novel

In the winter of 1789, around the time George Washington was elected as the first United States president, a printer quietly published what would become the first American novel.

William Hill Brown wrote the book, called The Power of Sympathy. Isaiah Thomas & Company in Boston, Massachusetts published it anonymously¹.

Around 100 pages long, The Power of Sympathy is a love story of two young New Englanders. Their relationship ends suddenly and tragically² when they learn of a shocking secret. The book is dedicated³ to the "Young Ladies of United Columbia" (the United States).

Outside of Boston, though, few Americans would have known or cared about The Power of Sympathy as a historical marker.

David Lawrimore, who teaches at the University of Idaho, has written about early U.S. literature. He said, "If you picked ten random⁴ citizens, I doubt it would have mattered to any of them."

"Most people weren't thinking about the first American novel," he added.

What the first American novel was like

The Power of Sympathy is in many ways a sign of its time with its use of letters, religious messages and formal language. But the story also includes themes of the worries and hopes of a young country.

Dana McClain is an assistant professor of English at Holy Family University. McClain noted⁵ that Brown was an outspoken⁶ Federalist who believed in a strong national government and stable society.

The letters in The Power of Sympathy include the subjects of class, public outlook and the differences between North and South, as if expecting the Civil War that followed in the 1860s.

Like many other early American writers, Brown tied the behavior of women to the fate of the larger society. The novel's letters concern the "power of pleasure" and how female envy could bring "a flood of scandal." The book compares high moral standards to a "mighty⁷ river" that "fertilizes⁸ the country through which it passes...."

A character in the book warns, "Most of the novels with which our female libraries are overrun are built upon a foundation not always placed on strict morality and in the pursuit of objects not always probable or praiseworthy." The character adds, "(they) appear to me totally unfit to form the minds of women, of friends, or of wives."

How it became considered the first

The Power of Sympathy was commonly cited as the first American novel in the 1800s without much debate. Experts then agreed that the honor should belong to the first book written and published in the United States by a writer born and still living in the country.

These guidelines disqualified several earlier works such as Charlotte Ramsay Lennox's The Life of Harriot Stuart and Thomas Atwood Digges' Adventures of Alonso. Another contender was Father Bombo's Pilgrimage to Mecca which was written around 1770 but was not published until 1975.

Author Brown was likely born in 1765 in Boston. One of his early published works was a poem about Daniel Shays. Shays led a rebellion of former Revolutionary War soldiers in Massachusetts.

Brown was not yet 30 when he died in North Carolina, in 1793, from what experts believe was malaria⁹. He never married or had children. After his death, publishers released his play The Treason of Arnold and another novel Ira and Isabella.

Brown did not gain much fame in his short life. No memorials, historical places, or literary societies have been named after Brown. Even the site of his burial place is a mystery.

Words in This Story

novel - n. a written story usually about imaginary characters and events

anonymously - adv. not named or identified

dedicated - adj. used only for one particular purpose

random - adj. chosen without a particular plan or pattern

formal - adj. suitable for official speech and writing

envy - n. feeling of wanting to have what someone else have

scandal - n. something that is shocking, upsetting and unacceptable

1 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

2 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。

3 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

4 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

7 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

8 fertilizes   

n.施肥( fertilize的名词复数 )v.施肥( fertilize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The male sperm fertilizes the female egg. 雄性的精子使雌性的卵子受精。 来自辞典例句
• When the male reproductive cell fertilizes the female reproductive cell a zygote is formed. 当男性生殖细胞与女性生殖细胞发生受精时，就形成了一个合子。 来自辞典例句

9 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。