Women Novelists of Queen Victoria's Reign

Critical appraisals from 1897 of the works of a selection of the best-loved women writers active during Queen Victoria's reign.

Published in 1897 as a contribution to the celebrations of Queen Victoria as the longest reigning British monarch, this collection of critical appraisals includes the Brontës and George Eliot, together with Catherine Crowe and Juliana Ewing. The essays are written by a group of their peers led by Margaret Oliphant.Women novelists dominated the market in Victorian times, covering all genres from the mainstream to the Gothic, religious and sensational. Some are now classic household names whilst others, popular in their time, lie neglected on the shelves. This collection of appraisals of female writers by female writers was published in 1897 as a contribution to the celebrations of Queen Victoria as the longest reigning British monarch. The brief is exact: only those whose work was done after the Queen's accession and who were dead would be included. Nonetheless, the range is wide and includes essays on the Brontës, George Eliot and Mrs Gaskell, by Margaret Oliphant, Eliza Lynn Linton and Ada Ellen Bayly respectively, as well as appraisals of Catherine Crowe, Mrs Archer Clive and Mrs Henry Wood (author of East Lynne), by Adeline Sergeant, and the children's authors Charlotte Tucker and Juliana Ewing by Emma Marshall.