Skip to content

Booksellers & Trade Customers: Sign up for online bulk buying at trade.atlanticbooks.com for wholesale discounts

Booksellers: Create Account on our B2B Portal for wholesale discounts

Under the Man Fig

by Mollie Davis
Save 25% Save 25%
Current price ₹1,173.00
Original price ₹1,564.00
Original price ₹1,564.00
Original price ₹1,564.00
(-25%)
₹1,173.00
Current price ₹1,173.00

Imported Edition - Ships in 18-21 Days

Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 500

Request Bulk Quantity Quote
+91
Book cover type: Paperback
  • ISBN13: 9780875652221
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Subject: N/A
  • Publisher: Texas Christian University Press
  • Publisher Imprint: Texas Christian University Press
  • Publication Date:
  • Pages: 324
  • Original Price: USD 15.95
  • Language: English
  • Edition: N/A
  • Item Weight: 327 grams
  • BISAC Subject(s): Literary

The huge man-fig tree that sits on the town square in the fictional Coastal Bend town of Thornham (probably West Columbia) is the gathering place for the town's male gossips. Under this tree reputations are made and broken, rumors are spread, and a twisted folk history of the town is created.

Under the Man-Fig, by Mollie Moore Davis, a popular late-nineteenth century poet, novelist, and historian, is part romance, realism, color, and satire. The idea that men are the purveyors of gossip rings a change on the usual cliché that women are the worst rumor-mongers. Davis' main characters, drawn mostly from Victorian romance, are true to the genre, and her African Americans borrow heavily from the moonlight-and-magnolias format of many novels about the Old South.

But there are many things in the novel that make it important to early Texas writing. The Juneteenth scene with its interesting "center figger" captures a part of folklore not often seen. And the flavor of life just north of the Texas Gulf Coast is rarely captured in fiction.

In 1895, the year Under the Man-Fig was published, there was not a large body of Texas writing besides the Wild West tales published in dime novels. Davis' novel was more realistic than the shoot-em-ups that featured bold cowboys and degenerate or bloodthirsty Indians.

Davis' mixture of realism and romance appealed to the audience of the times but has long since been overwhelmed by the Texas of the wild frontier.

Mollie Evelyn Moore Davis was born in Talladega, Alabama, in 1844 but came to Texas in her childhood. In 1879, she moved from Texas to New Orleans when her husband became editor of the Daily Picayune. She continued to write about Texas until her death in 1909.

Trusted for over 49 years

Family Owned Company

Secure Payment

All Major Credit Cards/Debit Cards/UPI & More Accepted

New & Authentic Products

India's Largest Distributor

Need Support?

Whatsapp Us