Presumably Mrs. Cowdin lived in Alabama. Her novel begins in the South, but is most interested in exposing the North as a place where "fiendish" ministers scheme against "Southern wealth" and vicious women treat white servants more harshly than any black slave is treated in the South. The story of a Northerner who marries a Southerner, then deserts her and their daughter Ellen in the North in order to carry dangerous abolitionist designs back into the South, the novel is less interested in defending slavery as an institution than it is in demonizing "Parson Blake," an abolitionist minister. In the end Ellen, the white woman, has to be saved from his evil machinations and desires.

Nothing is known about the novel's reception, but the stamp at the bottom of the titlepage below -- from the copy displayed at the Wright Fiction site -- tells us that at least one copy of the book was actually sold in Boston.

Ellen; or, The Fanatic's Daughter By Mrs. V. G. Cowdin (Mobile: S. H. Goetzel & Company, 1860) 202 pages.

CHAPTER FIRST CHAPTER SECOND CHAPTER THIRD CHAPTER FOURTH CHAPTER FIFTH CHAPTER SIXTH CHAPTER SEVENTH CHAPTER EIGHTH CHAPTER NINTH CHAPTER TENTH CHAPTER ELEVENTH CHAPTER TWELFTH CHAPTER THIRTEENTH CHAPTER FOURTEENTH CHAPTER FIFTEENTH CHAPTER SIXTEENTH CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER NINETEENTH CHAPTER TWENTIETH CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND CHAPTER TWENTY-THIRD CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURTH CHAPTER TWENTY-FIFTH CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXTH CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENTH CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTH CHAPTER TWENTY-NINTH CHAPTER THIRTIETH CHAPTER THIRTY-FIRST CHAPTER THIRTY-SECOND CHAPTER THIRTY-THIRD CHAPTER THIRTY-FOURTH CHAPTER THIRTY-FIFTH CHAPTER THIRTY-SIXTH CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVENTH CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHTH CHAPTER THIRTY-NINTH CHAPTER FORTIETH CHAPTER FORTY-FIRST CHAPTER FORTY-SECOND CHAPTER FORTY-THIRD CHAPTER FORTY-FOURTH CHAPTER FORTY-FIFTH CHAPTER FORTY-SIXTH CHAPTER FORTY-SEVENTH CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHTH CHAPTER FORTY-NINTH CHAPTER FIFTIETH CHAPTER FIFTY-FIRST CHAPTER FIFTY-SECOND CHAPTER FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER FIFTY-FOURTH CHAPTER FIFTY-FIFTH CHAPTER FIFTY-SIXTH CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVENTH CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHTH CHAPTER FIFTY-NINTH CHAPTER SIXTIETH- CHAPTER SIXTY-FIRST CHAPTER SIXTY-SECOND CHAPTER SIXTY-THIRD