SOURCE: "Mary Noailles Murfree," in Library of Southern Literature, Vol. VIII, Madison-Murfree, edited by Edwin Anderson Alderman and Joel Chandler Harris, The Martin and Hoyt Company, 1907, pp. 3721-745.

In the following excerpt, Baskette judges Murfree's mountain stories fresh and unique, and believes they constitute her strongest claim to a lasting place in Southern literature.

In general, it may be said that Miss Murfree's writings are marked by an originality of style and method that places her among the creative authors of America as distinguished from many other writers of fiction who have attained reputation and popularity. This is especially true in reference to her stories of mountain life, which comprise her most noteworthy work and constitute the strongest claim to recognition of her genius and to the permanency of her place in literature. These stories are unique in their freshness of literary atmosphere, in their charm of description...