''Sidney'' is a

philosophical novel Philosophical fiction is any fiction that devotes a significant portion of its content to the sort of questions addressed by philosophy. It might explore any facet of the human condition, including the function and role of society, the nature and ...

by the

American writer The Lists of American writers include: United States By ethnicity *List of African-American writers * List of Asian-American writers * List of Cuban-American writers * List of Egyptian-American writers * List of Italian-American women writers ...

Margaret Deland (1857–1945) set in the 19th century fictional locale of Mercer, an

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

community that represents

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The novel tells the story of Major Mortimer Lee and his daughter Sidney. The Major has turned a pessimist by the loss of his beloved wife, and he vows to protect his daughter from love and marriage and the notion of a beneficent God. His unmarried sister Sally helps raise her. It was first published in installments in ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

'' from January through October 1890. It was published as a book by

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

but was not as popular as Deland's previous novel, ''John Ward''.Filer, Ruth Maxa. ''Margaret Deland: Writing Toward Insight''. Bloomington, IN: Balboa Press, 2014: 190–191.

External links

*''Sidney'' (1890)
Internet Archive e-text

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidney (Novel) 1890 American novels Novels set in Pittsburgh Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in The Atlantic (magazine)