Waiting for the Verdict

Rebecca Davis used her hometown of Philadelphia as a background for many of her realistic novels. Boldly delving into the grimmer aspects of mill life, Davis attracted the notice of literary circles with her short story "Life in the Iron Mills," published in Atlantic Monthly in 1862. Two novels, Margaret Howth (1862) and Waiting for the Verdict (1868) respectively grappled with mill town life and issues of race. Like so many realists, Davis created convincing and detailed characters reflective of the world she saw and knew.