The Hazeley Family Book

When The Hazeley Family was first published by the American Baptist Publication Society in 1894, it was advertised as "a book that should be in every Sunday-School Library." A novel set in the North, The Hazeley Family is somewhat typical of the "angel of the home" romances written by American women during the latter half of the nineteenth century—except that the author is a black woman. The book is based on the belief that "a happy home is the acme of human bliss," and that women are central to the achievement of that acme. It is the moral fiber of Flora Hazeley, the central character, that keeps her family together—a constant concern in Afro-American literature and life. Featuring "nonracial" characters, this novel exemplifies one of the various tactics that many black writers used to overcome the racial stereotypes demanded by the white literary establishment.