Wieland: or, The Transformation: An American Tale, usually simply calledWieland, is the first major work byCharles Brockden Brown, published in 1798, Wielandis the first - and most famous - AmericanGothic novel Set sometime between theFrench and Indian Warand theAmerican Revolutionary War, Wielanddetails the horrible events that befall Clara Wieland and her brother Theodore's family. Clara and Theodore's father was a German immigrant who founded his own religion; he came to America just before the American Revolution with the conviction to spread his religion to the indigenous people."