Reuben and Rachel: or, A Tale of Old Times

by Susanna Rowson, Joseph Bartolomeo (Editor)

Susanna Haswell Rowson, a popular and prolific writer, actress, and educator in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, had a truly transatlantic life and career, moving twice from England to America and publishing extensively in both countries. A transatlantic sensibility informs her fictionalized “history” of America, Reuben and Rachel , which traces ten generations of an extended family, beginning with the marriage of Christopher Columbus’s son to a native Peruvian princess, moving through the Tudor succession crises and the colonial settlement of New England, and ending with the title characters, who leave England for America, renounce titles of nobility, and consider their children “true-born Americans.” In Rowson’s representation, the American character derives from fusion and hybridity, the results of intermarriage across racial, religious and national lives.

Genres: 18th Century, Fiction

420 pages, Paperback

First published February 18, 2009

About the author

Susanna Rowson, née Haswell, was a British-American novelist, poet, playwright, religious writer, stage actress, and educator. She was the author of the novel Charlotte Temple--the most popular bestseller in American literature until Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852.

Reviews

[Anne Monfort · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reuben and Rachel is a historical fiction novel by Susanna Rowson about ten generations of a family that begins with Christopher Columbus. The writing is not very impressive and the story line is faintly cheesy. The characters are too perfect and too beautiful to really be believable. The real interesting part of the book is that it was written in 1798 and exists as a piece of propaganda from that time period. It is propaganda because it is attempting to convince readers of the time that Christopher Columbus was this wonderful philanthropist and benefactor to all peoples. He is painted as the strong and munificent father of America. As a piece of history, it is very interesting. But, as a piece of literature, it is severely lacking in any redeeming qualities.

[Lydia Presley · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are anything like me, Susanna Rowson is not a name you've stumbled across at any point in your life. I've read a lot of books, but I tend, generally, to avoid early American novelists because, well, the puritan thing really gets to me. However, now I'm in a class that has me studying four of those novelists and Rowson was first up on the list. I got a taste of her in reading CHARLOTTE TEMPLE, but REUBEN AND RACHEL really took that taste and made it into a full-fledged meal, including dessert. If you are at all interested in exploring this author, let this review serve as a guideline to help you through the book.

Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on Sept. 16, 2014.

[Elise Gennrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part of this book might make a lot of readers want to put it down, being as it is a long account of the main characters lineage and is quite confusing sometimes. I would almost suggest just skipping to the second volume of the book and starting there, as it was a much more enjoyable read. I had to read this for an English literature class and overall enjoyed the second part a lot.

[Alex English · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved this book for it's fairy tale likeness; Resilient women, tragic deaths, betrayals, loves. It was easily one of the more fast paced book of its time that I have read, with character changes frequently and a new adventure around every corner. Overall I would recommend Reuben and Rachel to just about anyone who loves to read.