Molly Elliot Seawell was the author of forty books, including regional fiction, romances, books for boys (primarily autical stories), and nonfiction. She also penned political columns for ewspapers in Washington, D.C., and New York. Socially conservative, she opposed he growing woman suffrage movement, and her consistent depictions of African Americans as servants and laves—while acceptable to and endorsed by much of her white readership at that ime—reflected her belief that blacks were inferior and peripheral members of ociety. Despite her social views, critics often described her books, many of hich were reviewed in the New York Times, as “sweet” or wholesome.” Though her books boasted vividly drawn characters, they did not ursue the themes and styles of literary realism that characterized the more rogressive literary trends of her time. Seawell, however, remained a single oman and worked as a prolific writer who supported her household by her various ublications.
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