Description
Book SynopsisPublished serially in the spiritualist journal Banner of Light in 1860, Cosella Wayne, or Will and Destiny is the first coming-of-age novel to depict Jews in the United States and transforms what we know about the history of early American Jewish literature.
Trade ReviewJonathan Sarna's edition of
Cosella Wayne renders accessible to general readers-as well as to students and scholars of modern history, women's and gender studies, religion, and Jewish studies-the gripping tale of the global adventures and personal travails of its inimitable heroine, Cosella Wayne. Engrossing as a work of literature and enthralling as a window onto the life and world of its remarkable author, Cora Wilburn,
Cosella Wayne is a family saga that grapples mightily with the nature of religious conversion, the implications of gender, the oppressiveness of poverty, and the destructiveness of child abuse. It paints intimate portraits of nineteenth-century Jewish and Spiritualist practices as well as of a courageous young woman's search for truth, love, and belonging. This highly readable edition will be particularly welcome in university classrooms, where it will draw students deep into the fundamental questions that animate a range of disciplines." - Paola Tartakoff, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Rutgers University
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Editor's Introduction
- A Note on the Text
- Cosella Wayne: Or, Will and Destiny
- Introduction
- 1. A Wandering Childhood
- 2. The Rhine Voyage
- 3. Foreboding
- 4. The Watcher by the Tomb
- 5. The Jewish Betrothal
- 6. Awakening
- 7. The Dawn of the New Life
- 8. The Dream's Reply
- 9. Bereavement
- 10. The Web of Destiny
- 11. The Second Sorrow
- 12. Light on the Pathway
- 13. The Teachings of the Fathers
- 14. Temptation and Trial
- 15. The Virgin's Shrine
- 16. The Step into the World
- 17. Spirit Teachings
- 18. Changes
- 19. Retribution
- 20. Manasseh's Letter
- 21. Above the Clouds of Earth
- 22. The Realities of Life
- 23. Toil and Suffering
- 24. The Mission of the Beautiful
- 25. The Hour before Day
- 26. Unrecognized
- 27. Realization
- 28. The River of Death, and the Waters of Life
- 29. Fraternal and Heavenly Union
- Notes to Cosella Wayne
- Selections from the Diary of Cora Wilburn (1844-1848)
