Frederic, << FREHD uhr ihk or FREHD rihk, >> Harold (1856-1898), played an important part in the rise of Realism in American fiction. His literary reputation has grown significantly since the mid-1900’s. Frederic believed that writers should describe realistically the life they had experienced. His best novels portray the narrow, grim small-town life of his native upstate New York in the late 1800’s. Frederic also was interested in the impact of controversial ideas and of the developing political and industrial forces of the day.
Frederic’s best novel, The Damnation of Theron Ware (1896), describes the influence of controversial social and religious ideas on a rigid small-town congregation. In Seth’s Brother’s Wife (1887), Frederic portrayed the mingling of politics and journalism in a small town. The Market Place (1899) depicts a greedy American inventor whose financial and social successes feed his ambitions for political power in England. Frederic was born on Aug. 19, 1856, in Utica, New York. He died on Oct. 19, 1898.
