Louise-Clarke Pyrnelle's works, once moderately popular, are now anachronistic. Both the author and her books are products of another era, a time far removed from the life experiences of today's children. It is doubtful that contemporary youthful readers would possess the ability to unravel the intertwined psychological and sociological conditions that gave rise to these stories. Without this understanding, the images presented in the books are degrading and misleading. While both stories are significant from anthropological and sociological perspectives, their worth as children's literature is overshadowed by the images they present. Nevertheless, Louise-Clarke Pyrnelle deserves a place among nineteenth-century children's writers, if not for the continued popularity of her work then for its historical relevance.

Louise Clarke was born on her father's plantation, Ittabena, near Uniontown, Alabama. Her father, Dr. Richard Clarke, a physician, was the son of a prominent Virginia family, and her mother, Elizabeth Carson Bates...