STODDARD, Elizabeth
The Morgesons

Cassandra and Veronica Morgeson are wild girls. Adored by men, hated by women and feared by their parents―they break the mold. Veronica refuses to leave the family hearth or look at the ocean. Cassandra travels from one house to another around Massachusetts, breaking hearts and sending men to their deaths wherever she goes. She narrates it all in a bold voice that will surprise and shock even those most familiar with 19th-century literature. Henry James called The Morgesons “a remarkable book by those who had the good fortune to come across it.”

Elizabeth Drew Barstow Stoddard (1823–1902) was the author of three novels, The Morgesons (1862), Two Men (1865) and Temple House (1867). These received mixed reviews and sold poorly in her lifetime, though her work received renewed interest at the end of her life. Her career underwent another critical reevaluation among feminist scholars in the 1970 and 1980s.

Mandylion Press unearths lost literary gems written by women & weirdos in the (very) long 19th century – resurrecting special stories, and pairing them with contemporary introductions (for this volume, by Mabel Capability Taylor, cofounder of the press). This edition of The Morgesons includes a visual glossary that illuminates the social conventions and restrictions of the 19th century; a compendium of 96 unique images illustrating a forgotten past populated by visionaries, oddballs, and pioneers. Open carefully. [publishers’ note]

Published by Mandylion Press, 2025
Design by Emily Wissemann
Literature