Post by librarylady on Jun 24, 2025 3:03:54 GMT
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/trinity-churchyard-charlotte-temple-grave?
In the historic Trinity Churchyard in lower Manhattan, just off Wall Street, lies the grave of a woman who never existed. But two centuries ago, any American in the habit of reading novels would have known the name engraved on the slab: Charlotte Temple.
Professor Ivy Linton Stabell, who teaches the book to her literature students at Iona University, says that the melodramatic tale appealed to all different kinds of Americans, because the story about a young, vulnerable woman being faced with difficult circumstances in New York, after betrayal by a powerful Englishman, paralleled the story of their nation.
In the historic Trinity Churchyard in lower Manhattan, just off Wall Street, lies the grave of a woman who never existed. But two centuries ago, any American in the habit of reading novels would have known the name engraved on the slab: Charlotte Temple.
Professor Ivy Linton Stabell, who teaches the book to her literature students at Iona University, says that the melodramatic tale appealed to all different kinds of Americans, because the story about a young, vulnerable woman being faced with difficult circumstances in New York, after betrayal by a powerful Englishman, paralleled the story of their nation.
