 1902 Edition | |
| Author | Alice Hegan Rice |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Florence Scovel Shinn |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction - Humorous sentiment |
| Publisher | The Century Company |
Publication date | 1901 (US) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 153 |
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch is a 1901 novel by American authorAlice Hegan Rice, about a southern family humorously coping with poverty. It was highly popular on its release,[1] and has been adapted to film several times. The early editions of the book carry the author's birth name, Alice Caldwell Hegan.
Rice was inspired to write the book during her "philanthropic work in aLouisville, Kentucky slum area, where she met an optimistic and cheerful woman" who was a model for the book's main character.[1]
The book is set in a white turn-of-the-century urban slum, with two somewhat wealthy individuals wanting to help the inhabitants. The title character is a widow with three daughters — whom she named after the continents, thinking that geographical names were refined — and two sons, the eldest of whom dies before the middle of the book.
As of 1997, the book had sold more than 650,000 copies in a hundred printings.[1]
Lovey Mary, a sequel by Rice, was published in 1903 and features many of the first book's characters.[2]
In 1903 the book was combined withLovey Mary for aplay which premiered on Broadway at theSavoy Theatre in September 1904. It was written byAnne Crawford Flexner, and starredMadge Carr Cook.[3] It had been performed in October 1903 in Louisville, Kentucky.Helen Lowell who appeared in the cast was able to tour to Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and across America for the next seven years playing Miss Hazy "in the Cabbage Patch".[4]
The book was also adapted into a radio series which aired from 1935 to 1938.[5]
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| This article about an American novel is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article'stalk page. |