Susanna Rowson

An item at American Writers Museum

The daughter of a British naval officer, Susanna Rowson grew up in Massachusetts but moved to England after the Revolutionary War. In the 1790s, Rowson's novel Charlotte Temple: A Tale of Truth (1791) caught fire as a cross-Atlantic best seller. She returned to Boston, where she opened an academy for girls and edited magazines.

Charlotte Temple is a sentimental story of a naive English girl lured to America by a soldier who abandons her. Charlotte then dies during childbirth. What makes this seduction novel unique is its unusual perspective on the Revolution, delivered by an author with both American and British allegiances.

AMERICAN VOICES

An exhibit at American Writers Museum

American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. The 100 authors featured here represent the evolution of American writing. Learn more about each writer on the timeline by turning the panels below their portraits. Explore centuries of writing by pulling, turning, and touching the interactive elements on the counter.

This is not meant to be a list of the greatest or most influential writers. Instead, we present authors and works as part of the American story as it grows and changes. Taken together, this rich literary heritage reflects America in all of its complexity: its energy, hope, conflict, disillusionment, and creativity.

American Writers Museum