author
William Alexander Caruthers
1802–1846
A physician turned novelist, he helped shape early American historical fiction with lively stories set in Virginia’s colonial past. His best-known work, The Cavaliers of Virginia, mixes romance, adventure, and regional history in a way that made him one of the earliest notable novelists from Virginia.
3 Audiobooks
The Cavaliers of Virginia, vol. 1 of 2 or, The Recluse of Jamestown; An historical romance of the Old Dominion
by William Alexander Caruthers
The Kentuckian in New-York; or, The Adventures of Three Southerns. Volume 1 (of 2)
by William Alexander Caruthers
The Cavaliers of Virginia, vol. 2 of 2 or, The Recluse of Jamestown; An historical romance of the Old Dominion
by William Alexander Caruthers
About the author
Born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in 1802, William Alexander Caruthers studied at Washington College and then earned a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He practiced medicine, but he also built a literary career at a time when American fiction was still finding its voice.
Caruthers is remembered mainly for historical novels, especially The Cavaliers of Virginia and The Knights of the Golden Horse-Shoe. His writing often looked back to colonial Virginia and blended drama, patriotism, and romance, helping make him an important early contributor to Southern and American historical fiction.
Later in life he moved to Savannah, Georgia, where he lived until his death in 1846. Although he is not as widely read today as some of his contemporaries, he still holds a place in literary history as one of Virginia’s earliest significant novelists.