The Home in the Valley

NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER, 145 NASSAU-STREET,
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1854, by CHARLES SCRIBNER, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.
TOBITT'S COMBINATION-TYPE, 181 William St.
A few years ago, Mrs. Carlén was comparatively unknown to readers in this country; but the marked success which followed the publication of One Year of Wedlock encouraged the translator in the endeavor to present that lady's works to the American public.
In her writings Mrs. Carlén exhibits a versatility which may be considered remarkable. While in one book she revels in descriptions of home-scenes and characters, in another she presents her readers with events and incidents that bear a strong resemblance to the startling and melo-dramatic productions of many of the modern romance writers of France.
This peculiarity, however, may be accounted for by the fact that she writes—as she herself confesses—entirely from impulse.
When her mind is clouded by sorrow—and she has been oppressed with many bitter griefs—she seeks to remove the cause of her despondency by creating a hero or heroine, afflicted like herself, and following this individual through a train of circumstances which, she imagines, would naturally occur during a life of continued gloom and sorrow.
On the other hand, when life appears bright and beautiful to her, then she tells a tale of joy; a story of domestic life, for where does pure happiness exist except at the fireside at home?
It must have been during one of these bright intervals of her life that Mrs. Carlén wrote The Home in the Valley, for the work is a continued description of the delights of home, which, although occasionally obscured by grief, and in some instances, by folly, are rendered still more precious by their brief absence.
New York , August 15th, 1854.