Uncle Tom's Cabin
Style Uncle Tom's Cabin is written in a sentimental and melodramatic style. This style was often used in the 19th century sentimental novel and domestic fiction (also called women's fiction). These genres were the most popular novels of Stowe's time. It usually had female characters and a style that made readers feel sympathy and emotion for them. Stowe's novel is different from other sentimental novels because she writes about a large theme like slavery. It is also different because she has a man (Uncle Tom) as the main character. However, she still tried to make her readers have strong feelings when they read Uncle Tom's Cabin, like making them cry when Eva died. This kind of writing made readers react powerfully. For instance, Georgiana May, a friend of Stowe's, wrote a letter to the writer. In the letter, she said that "I was up (awake) last night long after one o'clock, reading and finishing Uncle Tom's Cabin. I could not leave it any more than I could have left a dying child." Another reader said that she thought about the book all the time and even thought about changing her daughter's name to Eva. The death of Eva affected lots of people. In 1852, 300 baby girls in Boston were named Eva.