Louise Clarke Pyrnelle

Louise Clarke Pyrnelle (June 19, 1850 – August 26, 1907) was an Alabama writer.[1] Her works drew heavily from her childhood experiences growing up on an antebellum plantation.

Life

Pyrnelle was born Elizabeth Louise Clarke on a cotton plantation in Perry County, Alabama. After the Civil War, the family moved to Dallas County, where her father opened a medical practice. She was educated in lecturing, and worked as a governess and public speaker.[2]

In 1880 she married John Parnell. Her novel Diddie, Dumps & Tot; or plantation child-life was published in 1882 under the pseudonym "Pyrnelle" – a slight variation on her husband's name. She would publish only one other work during her lifetime: a story called "Aunt Flora's Courtship and Marriage". She died in 1907.[2]


Louise Clarke Pyrnelle's FindAGrave

Works

Diddie, Dumps & Tot; or plantation child-life, 1882

This novel was noted at the time for its use of the southern black vernacular, a dialect also used by Mark Twain and Joel Chandler Harris, and which was thought to add "authenticity" to writing about the American South. The novel offered a nostalgic and romanticized view of antebellum plantation life, and was popular during the 19th and 20th centuries.[2]

Miss Li'l' Tweetty, 1917

This posthumously published novel describes the childhood experiences of a young girl named 'Tweetty'. Like Diddie, Dumps & Tot, its depictions of slavery were uncritical and nostalgic.[2]

References
  1. This Goodly Land Author Information for Louise Clarke Pyrnelle Archived May 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Kelley, Joyce. "Louise Clarke Pyrnelle". The Encyclopedia of Alabama. Auburn University. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
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