At the moment Mrs. Peterkin is all but forgotten; and her fiction, when it is discussed at all, is usually dismissed as either malicious or trivial….

The earliest rebirth of interest in her work, however, may come in the fields of sociology, folklore, and history, where she has much to offer the serious scholar. Certainly her portrayal of plantation life has a ring of authenticity that is lacking in most modern fiction on the subject; and since she was often more reporter than literary artist, she is all the more valuable as a primary source for historical research.

Both Black April and Roll, Jordan, Roll are priceless collections of black folklore and contain much material that bears close examination. Once again her artistic failures become positive virtues to serious students in the field. The tedious initiation of Breeze into plantation life is, at the same time, a compendious...