The Syntax of Class ― Writing Inequality in Nineteenth-Century America

Lang (English, Syracuse U.) explores the literary expression of the crisis of social classification that occupied public discourse in the mid-19th century. The text focuses on a group of novels written by middle-class city dwellers, mainly American women and men living in the urban Northeast. The novels tell stories of people who are not yet, or are never to be, themselves members of the middle class, and as such present a definitive encounter between members of different classes. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)