The Hazeley Family

This is a novel intended to portray a strong moral message, especially to the Baptist community of the time in America. The author Amelia Johnson was in fact a black woman, but she concealed this identity in the hope that this would give her a wider readership. The story concerns a girl called Flora, the only Hazeley daughter, who at the age of five goes to live with her Aunt, Mrs Graham, who intends to offer her a better life than her own mother, could or would.

Amelia E. Johnson (1858-1922) was a Canadian writer and poet. As an editor she sought to encourage other writers with African American ancestry by publishing their works in a short periodical. Writing under the name Mrs. A. E. Johnson, her approach to fiction has been compared to Emma Dunham Kelley and Paul Laurence Dunbar, focusing on the social circumstances of her characters rather than identifying ethnic or 'racial' aspects. The study of her works by literary critics after a century of obscurity renewed interest in Johnson, though she had been praised by her contemporaries. Johnson's works include children's literature, Sunday school fiction, and a few novels.