THE PASSION OF MISS AUGUSTA

Trailer for upcoming documentary film by Robert Clem on Augusta Jane Evans, the Alabama author whose 1866 novel St. Elmo sold a million copies, exceeded in the nineteenth century only by Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ben-Hur. Strongly resistant to the limited role women were expected to play in Southern society, she was also a vocal advocate of the Confederate cause -- as well as a harsh critic of its male leadership. The film will be a study in the evolving role of women -- even thought Evans herself was careful to follow the conventions of domestic fiction and allow the male to dominate in the end.