Lucy Temple

Lucy Temple is a novel by Susanna Rowson, inspired by her experiences in America during the American Revolution. It follows the story of Charlotte Temple, a young girl who is seduced by Lieutenant John Montraville and abandoned by him in the new world, leaving her alone and suffering from illness and poverty.

Format: Hardback
Length: 114 pages
Publication date: 31 March 2022
Publisher: West Margin Press

Lucy Temple, a novel by Susanna Rowson, was published in 1828. It is inspired in part by the author's experiences in America, where she was brought by her father, a Royal Navy officer, and placed under house arrest during the American Revolution. The novel, the sequel to Charlotte Temple, which was a bestseller, falls into the popular genre of the seduction novel. Alongside works such as Hannah Webster Foster's The Coquette (1797), Rowson's novel continues to inform scholars about the historical portrayal of women's sexuality in English and American literature.

"Such an assemblage of youth and innocence naturally attracted the young soldiers: they stopped; and, as the little cavalcade passed, almost involuntarily pulled off their hats. A tall, elegant girl looked at Montraville and blushed: he instantly recollected the features of Charlotte Temple, whom he had once seen and danced with at a ball at Portsmouth."

From this brief chance encounter, so much suffering ensues. Not long after meeting her on the street, Lieutenant John Montraville seduces young Charlotte and convinces her to leave her family and friends behind to join him in the new world. There, spurred on by rumors of infidelity and harboring his own sinister motives, he soon abandons his innocent wife, leaving her alone in a country where nobody knows her name. Although her father reaches her in time to see her once more, she soon succumbs to illness and poverty, leaving a young daughter behind.

Lucy Temple is a tragic story of romance and morality from a leading writer and educator of her time. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Susanna Rowson's Lucy Temple is a classic work of British-American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Dimension: 203 x 127 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781513135335