The Power of Sympathy and the Coquette

Written in epistolary form and drawn from actual events, Brown’s <i>The Power of Sympathy</i> (1789) and Foster’s <i>The Coquette</i> (1797) were two of the earliest novels published in the United States. Both novels reflect the eighteenth-century preoccupation with the role of women as safekeepers of the young country’s morality. Written in epistolary form and drawn from actual events, Brown’s <i>The Power of Sympathy</i> (1789) and Foster’s <i>The Coquette</i> (1797) were two of the earliest novels published in the United States. Both novels reflect the eighteenth-century preoccupation with the role of women as safekeepers of the young country’s morality.