Wondering if anyone in this group shares my interest in and enthusiasm for the American Realism school of fiction of the late 19th century. Seems like the whole movement has fallen out of literary favor in recent decades and is seen as prudish (a fair critique), naive, and perhaps too middle-class (not to mention largely white, though I think that's more a factor of the time period). There were some really great writers involved, however, and a lot of what I've read holds up in 2023. The great champion of this movement (also a great author in his own right) was William Dean Howells, but other important writers (whose work is still in print today) include Sarah Orne Jewett, Hamlin Garland, Bret Harte, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Charles C. Chestnutt...Twain is of the same time period but I'm not sure he is considered a realist in the same way (?) Out of realism came naturalism (Dreiser, Crane, Norris, etc.), which seems to get more critical love nowadays. Anyway, thought I'd leave a couple of my favorite titles here and see if anyone else has read them and has thoughts to share!

A Hazard of New Fortunes by William Dean Howells - Fantastic novel with a large set of characters, set in a vividly depicted New York of the late 1880s.

Pembroke by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman - A novel about life in a small New England village in the 1830s (40s?). Funny and sad. Vividly depicts the damage to personal and family relationships caused by the moral legacy of Puritanism.

The Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic - I think this one is from 1899 but it feels very modern. Methodist minister loses his faith in upstate New York. Complex characters, moral ambiguity, humor, irony—it has it all.

The House Behind the Cedars - Novel about passing and interracial romance by the African American author Charles C. Chestnutt. Perhaps a bit romantic (in the literary sense), but it tackles an important theme in an unexpected way, and he was a great writer.