author
Belle K. (Belle Kendrick) Abbott
1842–1893
A 19th-century Southern novelist remembered for a single, unusual book, she wrote with a close eye for social life and identity. Her novel Leah Mordecai has lasted because it centers a Jewish heroine in post–Civil War Atlanta—an uncommon perspective in American fiction of its time.
1 Audiobook
Leah Mordecai: A Novel
by Belle K. (Belle Kendrick) Abbott
About the author
Isabella "Belle" Kendrick Abbott (November 3, 1842 – December 27, 1893) was an American writer from Georgia. Reliable reference sources identify her as the author of Leah Mordecai, published in 1875, and describe it as her only published novel.
She was born Isabella Kendrick and later married Benjamin F. Abbott. Sources connect her life closely with Atlanta, and that setting matters: Leah Mordecai is often noted today for portraying Southern society after the Civil War through the story of a Jewish young woman, which helps explain why the book still draws interest.
Because the surviving record is fairly limited, the clearest picture of her legacy comes through that novel itself. Even with just one known book, she stands out as a distinctive voice in 19th-century American literature.