even though many readers were very moved, literary critics did not like the style in "uncle tom's cabin" and other sentimental novels. they said these books were written by women and had "women's sloppy (messy) emotions." one literary critic said that if the novel not been about slavery, "it would be just another sentimental novel". another said the book was a "piece of hack (messy) work." in "the literary history of the united states", george f. whicher called "uncle tom's cabin" "sunday-school fiction".