num_pages: 410
description: Brown is often called the first American novelist. Originally published in 1799, Ormond was inspired by enlightenment philosophers and Gothic writers. The novel engages with many of the period's popular debates about women's education, marriage, and the morality of violence, while the plot revolves around the Gothic themes of seduction, murder, incest, impersonation, romance and disease. Set in post-revolitionary Philadelphia, Ormond examines the prospects of the struggling nation by tracing the experiences of Constantia, a young virtuous republican who struggles to survive when her father's business is ruined by a confidence man, and her friends and neighbors are killed by a yellow fever epidemic.
language: English
title: Ormond or the Secret Witness/Clara Howard or the Enthusiasm of Love
titlecomplete: Ormond or the Secret Witness/Clara Howard or the Enthusiasm of Love (The Works of Charles Brockden Brown Series)
genres: Literature, Classics, School, Gothic, 18th Century, Read For School, Fiction
ratings_count: 191
publisher: Reprint Services Corp