On July 29, 1899, a British journal published a favorable review of Paul Laurence Dunbar's first novel, The Uncalled.
Mr. Paul Laurence Dunbar has two grave disabilities to struggle with -- he is a poet and a man of color, and anyone who knows America well knows the obstacles in the way of a man of African descent. But he has triumphantly overcome these obstacles. His new book, "The Uncalled," is worthy of his reputation. It no longer treats of colored life but of the village life of a Methodist community.
The Queen: The Lady's Newspaper and Court Chronicle (London, England). July 29, 1899.
The review was of the English edition of The Uncalled, published by Service & Paton. In an advertisement about recent releases, the British publisher mistakenly described the setting of the novel as "a New England community." The story is actually set in the fictitious city of Dexter, Ohio, which closely resembles Paul's hometown of Dayton.
Here Mr. Dunbar quits his picturesque sketches of Negro life to describe the social and religious eccentricities of a New England community. Neither melodrama nor religious doubt has any place in "The Uncalled."
Service & Paton advertisement. The Bookseller: A Newspaper of British and Foreign Literature (London, England). April 1, 1899. Page 347.
A reviewer at an English literary magazine had a negative opinion of The Uncalled.
It is difficult to imagine what sort of person is likely to find "The Uncalled" attractive. This book is particularly difficult to read, on account of the long conversations in dialect, the extracts from sermons, and the semi-religious comments of the author. The story could be told in outline in one sentence, and there is nothing in it which can be called a plot. A reader who at the end finds himself unable to say what is the moral will not be alone.
"The Uncalled." The Athenaeum (London, England). April 21, 1900.
The Uncalled is about a young man from Ohio whose adoptive mother tries to compel him to become a preacher. All of the main characters in the book are white, and some of them speak in Midwestern dialect.
"Well, Freddie, you jest don't look like yoreself. You're -- you 're -- "
"I'm a man, Uncle 'Liph."
"I allus knowed you'd be, my boy. I allus knowed you'd be. But yore aunt Hester told me to ask you ef -- ef you'd dropped all yore religion. She's mighty disturbed about yore dancin'."
Brent laughed aloud in pure joy.
"I knowed you hadn't," the old man chuckled.
"Lost it all? Uncle 'Liph, why, I've just come to know what religion is. It's to get bigger and broader and kinder, and to live and to love and be happy, so that people around you will be happy."
Excerpt from Chapter 17 of The Uncalled, by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Published in 1898.
Paul wrote much of The Uncalled while he was on an extended visit to England in 1897. He had hoped to recite his poems in England, but found few opportunities because the English people were focused on the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Paul mentioned his progress on The Uncalled in letters written to his fiancée Alice Ruth Moore, the American literary critic William Dean Howells, and his mother Matilda.
Do you know that I came near coming home Saturday two weeks ago? Mr. Dodd my publisher was here. He is very anxious about the novel I am writing (this is secret) and wanted me to come home. I have promised the book to another firm, John Lane in England and Appleton in America, but if I finish it he thinks as he did so well by my other book he ought to have this.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to Alice Ruth Moore, April 23, 1897. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 5).
In the matter of reading here, I have done very little. Although I distrust my ability very much, I am hard at work upon a novel and have made some progress with it. The press here has been uniformly kind to me, but I am wondering what they will say about my book, they are so conservative here.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to William Dean Howells, April 26, 1897. Howells family papers, Houghton Library, Harvard University. MS Am 1784 (133).
I had intended to shorten my stay here to six months, but I have already been asked to lecture when the winter season opens and I may consent to do so. My novel grows apace, though I can hardly call that a novel which is merely the putting together of a half dozen abstract characters and letting them work out their destiny along the commonplace lines suggested by their natures and environments. It has some plot, but little incident and incident seems to be the thing nowadays.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to Alice Ruth Moore, May 4, 1897. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 5).
I am quite well at present, but am still doing nothing. It will be five months day after tomorrow since I sailed and I have only given one paid recital in all that time. I could have done better in America although I would not have made the literary acquaintances that I have since being here. I am still working hard upon my novel and I hope that it may bring me in something soon after I get home.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to Matilda Dunbar, July 4, 1897. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 1).
I have at last much against the wishes of my friends decided to sail on the 31st. One friend even offers to take me over to France if I will remain, but I can only reply that America is still more attractive. My novel is at last done, and I am just lazing around among the trees and flowers.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to Alice Ruth Moore, July 20, 1897. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 5).