At the centre of this novel is a story of two lovers from feuding Creole families in early 19th century New Orleans. The romance of "the grandissimes" the masked ball at the beginning of the story, the conversations in patois, the scenes between reluctant but eventually blessed lovers, the colours of the Creole spring and the French quarter helped make George Washington Cable famous in America during the 1880s. But in contrast to the idealized romance is Cable's accurate, unflattering portrait of Creole gentility and his arguments for racial equality.

About the Author
Born in New Orleans in 1844, George Washington Cable began his writing career as a columnist and reporter for local newspapers. A talent scout from Scribner's Monthly "discovered" the writer, and the nation's appetite for the exotic scenes and characters of the remnants of Creole civilization helped to make him popular. His first collection of Creole tales, Old Creole Days, was hailed as the equal of Hawthorne's tales of New England; Cable's first novel, The Grandissimes, was constantly in print during his lifetime. He died in 1925.

Michael Kreyling is a professor of English at Vanderbilt University, where he teaches Southern literature and American literature. He has written two books: a study of the fiction of Eudora Welty, Eudora Welty's Achievement of Order, and a literary-cultural study of Southern fiction from the 1820s to the 1970s, Figures of the Hero in Southern Narrative.


Book Information
ISBN 9780140433227
Author George Washington Cable
Format Paperback
Page Count 368
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 301g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 130mm * 20mm