The Dangers of Seduction in an 18th-Century Novel

‘The Power of Sympathy’ by William Hill Brown

Woman walking, based on Wikimedia Commons, Serge Melki © CC 2.0

If you ask “What was the first American novel?,” someone might tell you it was William Hill Brown’s late 18th-century book The Power of Sympathy. It’s epistolary—that is, presented as written correspondence between characters—and mainly conveys moral opinions.