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Six Nights with the Washingtonians is a collection of temperance stories inspired by Timothy Shay Arthur’s real experiences with the rehabilitation stories he heard from the Washington Temperance Society.
This book is a collection of fictional tales warning young readers about alcohol, which was somewhat typical for temperance movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. It was published in London by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) and pushed the framework at the time that alcohol was itself inherently dangerous in its consumption of personal agency and moral sensibilities. To be…
There are various anecdotes floating around about Walt Whitman writing this temperance novel while heavily drinking himself, which does explain why critics have called it “an incoherent and often aesthetically dissatisfying text.” The historian David Reynolds biographical accounts of Whitman include a claim that he wrote the novel in three days while drinking heavily. However, there seems to be…
Some scholars argue that “Maria Lamas” is likely a pseudonym used by a female author in order to publish a work that would otherwise be seen as too transgressive or gruesome for a woman to write. The titular female protagonist, Helen More, is a woman born into a wealthy family and constrained by both patriarchal institutions and the influence of alcohol on herself and the men in her life. Rather…
This novel was the second-most popular book of its time right behind Uncle Tom’s Cabin.