Abstract

Fairbanks is a coming-of-age novel following the historical Sallie Fairbanks and her sisters, set ten years after their uncle Jason’s execution for a violent crime against their neighbor in 19th century Massachusetts. The novel makes use of recognizable tropes and conventions of 19th and early 20th century coming-of-age, marriage plot, and gothic fiction for and by women—such as the bumbling clergyman, the haunted house, the inseparable set of sisters—to explore dynamics of gendered and sexual violence within communities and between family members, trauma, and dysfunctional families. As Sallie brushes up against familiar scenarios she is confronted again
and again by the limitations of her situation and her conflicting desires as a young woman who seeks connection, safety, and freedom. In this way, Fairbanks unravels and interrogates typical and enduring narratives about women which invariably end in romance and marriage, revealing the potential for alternative configurations and outcomes within and beyond these plots.