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Southern Classics
Mamba's Daughters: A Novel of Charleston
Excerpt from Mamba's A Novel of Charleston
Work is purely imaginative and is concerned only with certain social ind spiritual values existing in Charleston and its environs. For the.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Work is purely imaginative and is concerned only with certain social ind spiritual values existing in Charleston and its environs. For the.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
318 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1974
About the author
DuBose Heyward
60 books22 followersDramatization in 1927 of
Porgy
(1925), novel of American writer Edwin DuBose Heyward based
Porgy and Bess
, folk opera of George Gershwin.
This best known work of this white author based the namesake play, which he co-authored with his wife Dorothy Heyward, and in turn this music.
Thomas Heyward, Jr., his ancestor, signed Declaration of Independence of the United States and served as a representative of South Carolina. As a child and young man, frequently ill Heyward also caught polio at eighteen years of age, then contracted typhoid fever at twenty years of age, and fell ill with pleurisy in the following year. He described as "a miserable student," uninterested in learning and dropped high school in his first year at fourteen years of age despite a lifelong and serious interest in literature; writing verses and stories, he passed the time in his sickbed.
In 1913, Heyward wrote a one-act play, An Artistic Triumph , produced in a local theater. This minor success on derivative work reportedly showed little promise but encouraged him to pursue a literary career. In 1917, he, convalescing from his illnesses, began to devote seriously to fiction and poetry. In 1918, his first published short story, "The Brute," appeared in Pagan, a Magazine for Eudaemonists. In the next year, he met Hervey Allen, then teaching at the nearby Porter military academy. They became close friends and formed the Poetry Society of South Carolina, which helped spark a revival of southern literature; Heyward edited the society's yearbooks until 1924 and contributed much of their content. His poetry was well received, earning him a Contemporary Verse award in 1921. In 1922 he and Allen jointly published a collection, Carolina Chansons: Legends of the Low Country and they jointly edited a southern issue of Poetry magazine. During this period Heyward and a friend, Henry T. O'Neill, had operated a successful insurance and real estate company and by 1924 Heyward had achieved a measure of financial independence, allowing him to give up business and devote himself full time to literature. Between stints of writing he supplemented his income by lecturing on southern literature at colleges.[3]
The poet and playwright Langston Hughes said Heyward was one who saw "with his white eyes, wonderful, poetic qualities in the inhabitants of Catfish Row that makes them come alive."[4] Biographer James M. Hutchisson characterizes Porgy as "the first major southern novel to portray blacks without condescension" and states that the libretto to Porgy and Bess was largely Heyward's work.[citation needed] Many critics have believed that Heyward was sympathetic in his portrayal of the Southern black. Others, however, have noted that the characters in Porgy, though viewed sympathetically, are still viewed for the most part as stereotypes.[citation needed]
Heyward and his wife Dorothy, whom he met at the MacDowell Colony in 1922, spent many years in Charleston, where he taught at the Porter Military Academy, while observing and thinking deeply about the lives of blacks of that area. His mother participated in an amateur Southern singing society performing Gullah songs, and he sometimes joined her. It was open to anyone whose family had lived on a plantation, whether as owner or slave.[citation needed] In Charleston, Heyward found inspiration for his book, including what would become the setting (Catfish Row) and the main character (a disabled man named Porgy). Literary critics cast Heyward as an authority on Southern literature, later writing, "Heyward's attention to detail and reality of the Southern black's lifestyle was not only sympathetic but something that no one had ever seen done before."[citation needed]
Opening on Broadway in 1927, the non-musical play "Porgy" was a considerable success, more so than the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess e
This best known work of this white author based the namesake play, which he co-authored with his wife Dorothy Heyward, and in turn this music.
Thomas Heyward, Jr., his ancestor, signed Declaration of Independence of the United States and served as a representative of South Carolina. As a child and young man, frequently ill Heyward also caught polio at eighteen years of age, then contracted typhoid fever at twenty years of age, and fell ill with pleurisy in the following year. He described as "a miserable student," uninterested in learning and dropped high school in his first year at fourteen years of age despite a lifelong and serious interest in literature; writing verses and stories, he passed the time in his sickbed.
In 1913, Heyward wrote a one-act play, An Artistic Triumph , produced in a local theater. This minor success on derivative work reportedly showed little promise but encouraged him to pursue a literary career. In 1917, he, convalescing from his illnesses, began to devote seriously to fiction and poetry. In 1918, his first published short story, "The Brute," appeared in Pagan, a Magazine for Eudaemonists. In the next year, he met Hervey Allen, then teaching at the nearby Porter military academy. They became close friends and formed the Poetry Society of South Carolina, which helped spark a revival of southern literature; Heyward edited the society's yearbooks until 1924 and contributed much of their content. His poetry was well received, earning him a Contemporary Verse award in 1921. In 1922 he and Allen jointly published a collection, Carolina Chansons: Legends of the Low Country and they jointly edited a southern issue of Poetry magazine. During this period Heyward and a friend, Henry T. O'Neill, had operated a successful insurance and real estate company and by 1924 Heyward had achieved a measure of financial independence, allowing him to give up business and devote himself full time to literature. Between stints of writing he supplemented his income by lecturing on southern literature at colleges.[3]
The poet and playwright Langston Hughes said Heyward was one who saw "with his white eyes, wonderful, poetic qualities in the inhabitants of Catfish Row that makes them come alive."[4] Biographer James M. Hutchisson characterizes Porgy as "the first major southern novel to portray blacks without condescension" and states that the libretto to Porgy and Bess was largely Heyward's work.[citation needed] Many critics have believed that Heyward was sympathetic in his portrayal of the Southern black. Others, however, have noted that the characters in Porgy, though viewed sympathetically, are still viewed for the most part as stereotypes.[citation needed]
Heyward and his wife Dorothy, whom he met at the MacDowell Colony in 1922, spent many years in Charleston, where he taught at the Porter Military Academy, while observing and thinking deeply about the lives of blacks of that area. His mother participated in an amateur Southern singing society performing Gullah songs, and he sometimes joined her. It was open to anyone whose family had lived on a plantation, whether as owner or slave.[citation needed] In Charleston, Heyward found inspiration for his book, including what would become the setting (Catfish Row) and the main character (a disabled man named Porgy). Literary critics cast Heyward as an authority on Southern literature, later writing, "Heyward's attention to detail and reality of the Southern black's lifestyle was not only sympathetic but something that no one had ever seen done before."[citation needed]
Opening on Broadway in 1927, the non-musical play "Porgy" was a considerable success, more so than the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess e
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 17, 2016
Loved it! Classic, it's a tale of Charleston around the early 20th century, blacks and whites, society, crime, romance, history, Gullah dialect, lots of fun to read.
June 25, 2025
Intriguing look at Charleston through the eyes of three generations of Black women and the only son of a now poor aristocratic White family (they lost everything in the Civil War). Everyone seems to have dreams, from Mamba, who wants to make sure her daughter and granddaughter will be looked after, to Saint's mother, Mrs. Wentworth, who is desperately trying to hang on to her social status for the sake of her son and daughter. Will any of the children get what they really want or will the expectations of society force them into compliance?
June 27, 2017
I inherited this book and didn't know anything about it. It was written in the 1920s by the same author who wrote "Porgy." It was really the perfect sequel to "Charleston" by Alexandra Ripley which I finished in the fall and which dealt with the reconstruction directly after the Civil War. This book is set in the early 1900s leading up to World War I and deals with the racial tensions and the "old society" that I was introduced to in Ripley's book. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
June 15, 2024
This one was a hard one to review. The storyline is good but Dubose likes to use 30 words when 10 will do. Between the 1920s formal English, the Gullah English and the font, this book was hard to read.
January 4, 2023
It's a fairly optimistic interpretation of black life in South Carolina in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (written by a white man), but if you can suspend that disbelief it is a nice story about hard work paying off. I enjoyed it.
January 20, 2014
Mamba's Daughters, A Novel of Charleston, is written by the author of Porgy, and later the play Porgy, which became the opera Porgy and Bess created by George Gershwin.
This novel of early 1900's Charleston portrays society and culture both white and black by weaving together three families, Mamba being the oldest member of the black family. The racial injustices of the time are noted and also the individual attempts by compassionate whites to mitigate some of those injustices. I had to struggle to stay with the story in the first third of the book partially because of the dialect. Finishing it I realized how powerful and upsetting it must have been when published in 1929 and how well it illustrates the inhumane racial conditions of the time.
The University of South Carolina Press notation on the back cover indicates "an amusing plot of deception, ambition and social transformation." I failed to find the amusement.
This novel of early 1900's Charleston portrays society and culture both white and black by weaving together three families, Mamba being the oldest member of the black family. The racial injustices of the time are noted and also the individual attempts by compassionate whites to mitigate some of those injustices. I had to struggle to stay with the story in the first third of the book partially because of the dialect. Finishing it I realized how powerful and upsetting it must have been when published in 1929 and how well it illustrates the inhumane racial conditions of the time.
The University of South Carolina Press notation on the back cover indicates "an amusing plot of deception, ambition and social transformation." I failed to find the amusement.
September 5, 2016
I knew nothing of this novel when I picked it up from the bookshelf that housed some old books (the 1929 edition). The title intrigued me, as well as the first few pages. Furthermore, the author also penned the novel upon which Porgy and Bess is based. Sometimes I think the book gods are guiding my hand. What an interesting book from an historical perspective and the insights it affords. Briefly, the novel explores the white aristocracy and the black experience of Charleston, SC, from the early to mid-twentieth century. It is generous and compassionate to both, perhaps to a fault. The story, its characters, and its observations make it a good and worthwhile read.
April 5, 2012
Dated, but a good example of the post WWI Southern Rennaisance. racial and class figure prominently -- no surprise, but DBH only slips into racial stereotyping and it goes to both white snd black. Some of the descriptions of the coastal low country are almost lyrical and his descriptions of the Charleston culture of the day are well done and worth the price of admission. Ultimately the book is about race in america in the big picture but told through black women mostly. No mean feat for a white male of the time.
July 22, 2012
I was interested in reading this book after it was referred to in a fiction book I read previously. Due to the old fashioned language (it was written in the 20s), I had a really hard time following it and it just didn't keep my attention. Perhaps I'll read it again in the future when I can spend more time focusing.
September 21, 2015
Blew me away to read a period piece that is so gripping!
October 5, 2014
A Charleston classic
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews