Wieland; or The Transformation, and Memoirs of Carwin, The Biloquist

One of the earliest American novels, Wieland (1798) is a thrilling tale of suspense and intrigue set in rural Pennyslvania in the 1760s. Based on an actual case of a New York farmer who murdered his family, the novel employs Gothic devices and sensational elements such as spontaneous combustion, ventriloquism, and religious fanaticism.The plot turns on the charming but diabolical intruder Carwin, ...