Transcendentalism in the fiction of Alice Brown has been alluded to in the few articles and dissertations that deal with her. However, writers differ on how constantly Brown used the philosophy and how she applied it in her works. Ellen Langill, who wrote a dissertation on Brown in 1975, believes that her ideals changed throughout her life. However, a careful reader of her works would be able to trace one constant philosophy throughout, that of transcendentalism. Brown's use of transcendentalism depended on the happenings of her day. She found in it a life philosophy which could be used by an individual to adjust to the many changes in her society. Brown's belief in transcendentalism enabled her to show her characters finding peace through nature and its many influences: nature as educator, nature as rejuvenater, nature as escape, and nature as a stable and strict ruler. This philosophy not only guided her characters and herself, but possibly her readers as well. All writers are influenced by the times in which they live, and usually they reflect the culture, sentiments, and beliefs of their era in their works. In the case of Alice Brown, who lived in New England from the day she was born, December 5 1857, until the day she died, June 21 1948, this observation holds true.