As Others See Us

Duel for honor or sue for damages? Lynch the accused or drag him off to face the Law? Marry the cousin you don't love or find your own way in the world? These are the dilemmas faced as the Old South gives way to modernity at the turn of the 20th century in this novella of the University of the South (Sewanee) and six short stories by the once noted, now all but forgotten Sarah Barnwell Elliott. Sada, as she preferred to be called, made her reputation in portraying the local color and dialects of her native south. Along the way she left a group of stories about a clash of the old and the new, particularly in her strong female characters. Hers is a bold voice that speaks clearly across the generations in support of a woman's self-sufficiency.