by Mr Curling, who takes Eliza in temporarily. Her uncle, Philip Hadwin, refuses to give Eliza her inheritance. At this point, Mervyn returns to the city to help Clemenza Lodi, whom he had met when she was pregnant by Welbeck. He finds her living with her dying baby in the house of Mrs Villars, a prostitute. He mets a young widow in the same house, Achsa Fielding, who had no idea her friends were prostitutes. Mrs Fielding is of Portuguese-Jewish-British heritage. She has been described as "the first American Jew to appear in American fiction". Mervyn "rescues" Eliza from boredom by taking her to live with Mrs Fielding. He realizes that he is in love with Mrs Fielding, and stares up at her window at night. She is frightened but recognizes him. The next day they admit their feelings to each other and agree to marry. Mervyn becomes an apprentice to Dr. Stevens. Reception The novel generally received mixed reviews. Some scholars have argued that Mervyn's character inhabits the grey area between hero and villain, or that he lacks "the force of will to be either". Emory Elliott, an American academic describes the new edited novel as providing a "reliable text constructed within the intellectual, cultural, political, and religious context of a society". Many of Brown's works are related to revolution, but political revolution only makes up a small part of the novel, which focuses more on psychological development. Development The sequel, Arthur Mervyn; or; Memoirs of the Year 1793. Second Part, was released in 1800 and is now very rare, with only a few collectors succeeding in obtaining both volumes. The novel has also influenced other American Gothic authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, in writing The Masque of the Red Death, published in 1842. References External links 1793 novels American gothic novels 18th-century American novels Novels by Charles Brockden Brown