The Lamplighter
(6 votes)This first novel of Maria S. Cummins was first published in 1854. It was an immediate best-seller selling 20,000 copies in twenty days and 65,000 copies in five months. The Lamplighter tells the story of Gertrude Flint, an orphan rescued by a old lamplighter and in the process learns the principles of domesticity and becomes a self-reliant, independent woman.
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Let's not forget that when Hawthorne made that comment about "scribbling women," he was jealous of their success. Like it or not, this book was one of the most popular novels of the nineteenth century, and deserves to be read for that reason alone. To be so popular, a lot of people - mostly girls and women - had to like it, and because of our still mostly male-based views of what "good" literature is, we think works like The Lamplighter are not "literature." Read Jane Tompkins' Sensational Designs for why this novel, as well as other literature for women, is an important part of our cultural history.