Wieland; Or, The Transformation: An American Tale

by Charles Brockden Brown

Wieland, published in 1798, is the first major novel of Charles Brockden Brown and one of the founding works of American Gothic fiction. Narrated by Clara Wieland, it tells how her family, living in rural Pennsylvania after their devout father died mysteriously in a sudden blaze of light during his solitary worship, is unsettled by unexplained voices that seem to speak from nowhere, at the time a stranger named Carwin, who has a secret talent for ventriloquism, enters their circle. Clara's devout brother Theodore comes to believe that he hears the commands of God, with terrible results. The novel explores religious fanaticism, deception and the limits of reason with unsettling power. The full text is available to read online in your browser on Vinteuil, and the first chapter is free.