SOURCE: “‘Fanny Ford’ and Rose Clark,” in Fanny Fern: An Independent Woman, Rutgers University Press, 1992, pp. 195-210.

In the following essay, Warren evaluates two of Fern's works—her serialized novella “Fanny Ford” and her second novel, Rose Clark. Warren argues that one of the most significant aspects of the novella is its social criticism—Fern confronted such issues as the need for educational reform, the plight of women workers, the necessity of improved child-rearing methods, and the unjust conditions in a patriarchal society. According to Warren, the most valuable aspects of Rose Clark are the insights it affords into Fern's second marriage; its satire; and its theme, style, and structure.

We are tired … of the piled-up horrors with which some novelists bait for readers. Anybody can introduce a ghost or a bloody head; it takes genius, and that of the very highest order, to make what are called...