P‑Wave Classics Launches Definitive New Edition of Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette

A landmark early American novel, reissued with rare 19th‑century commentary and fresh editorial context

P‑Wave Press today announces the forthcoming publication of a major new edition of Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette, one of the most influential and widely read novels of early America. First published anonymously in 1797, The Coquette became a literary sensation in its own time and has since been recognized as a foundational work of American fiction and an early, powerful exploration of female agency, reputation and social judgement.

Inspired by the real-life death of Elizabeth Whitman, whose story became a cause célèbre in the young republic, The Coquette tells the story of Eliza Wharton, a woman of intelligence and spirit navigating the narrow expectations placed upon her. Told entirely through letters, the novel offers a subtle and emotionally charged portrait of freedom constrained by custom—and of a society quick to moralise, slow to forgive.

This new P‑Wave Classics edition restores the novel as a living cultural text rather than a static moral artefact. Alongside a carefully prepared reading text, it brings together, for the first time in a modern trade edition, two key documents from the novel’s 19th‑century afterlife:

• The Historical Preface by Jane E. Locke (1855), which sought to fix the moral and biographical meaning of Eliza Wharton and her real-life counterpart
• Caroline Wells Healey Dall’s The Romance of the Association (1875), printed here in full; a spirited and incisive response that challenges reductive readings of both Whitman and Foster

Together, these texts capture the intensity of the debate that surrounded The Coquette long after its initial publication—revealing how literature, biography and moral judgement became entangled in the public imagination.

The edition has been prepared with reference to early printings and preserves the language and texture of Foster’s original, while lightly regularising inconsistencies in spelling to ensure a smooth reading experience. New editorial notes are clearly distinguished and intended solely to support modern readers.

“The Coquette has never been just a novel,” said P‑Wave Press. “It is a work that has always provoked argument—about women’s freedom, about responsibility, about how stories are told and retold. This edition restores that sense of conversation, rather than closing it down.”

With its blend of literary elegance, historical resonance and enduring relevance, The Coquette remains a strikingly modern book. This new edition invites readers not simply to judge Eliza Wharton, but to understand her—and to reflect on the culture that shaped her fate.

Available 21 April from P‑Wave Press in paperback and ebook formats.

Publication date: 21 April 2026
Formats: Paperback and ebook
Imprint: P-Wave Classics
For review copies, interview requests, or further information, please contact:
media@p-wavepress.co.uk

About P-Wave Press

P-Wave Press is an independent publishing house dedicated to thought-provoking, original, and beautifully crafted books across genres, from contemporary essays and memoirs to classic literature. Committed to amplifying distinctive voices and fostering meaningful connections between authors and readers, P-Wave Press champions works that challenge, inspire, and resonate. With a growing catalogue of literary and cultural publications, P-Wave Press continues to push the wave of independent publishing forward.