The Odd Women (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Gissing, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140433791 ISBN 13: 9780140433791

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 1994

Synopsis

Virginia and Alice Madden are 'odd women', growing old alone in Victorian England with no prospect of finding love. Forced into poverty by the sudden death of their father, they lead lives of quiet desperation in a genteel boarding house in London. Meanwhile, their younger sister Monica, struggles to endure a loveless marriage she agreed to as her only escape from spinsterhood. But when the Maddens meet an old friend, Rhoda Nunn, they are soon made aware of the depth of their oppression. Astonishingly ahead of its time, The Odd Women is a pioneering work of early feminism. Gissing's depiction of the daring feminist Rhoda Nunn, it is an unflinching portrayal of one woman's struggle to reconcile her own desires with her deepest principles.

About this title

Review:

"When it comes to the complexities of everyday life in late-Victorian London, there is no better guide than Gissing and no better Gissing than The Odd Women. And now, in Arlene Young's carefully edited and annotated edition, we have the definitive guide to Gissing's novel. Students will also find the historical documents gathered in this volume an invaluable resource in the study of the "woman question" and the sociology of work in the 1890s."--Stephen Arata

Comments:

“When it comes to the complexities of everyday life in late-Victorian London, there is no better guide than Gissing and no better Gissing than The Odd Women. And now, in Arlene Young’s carefully edited and annotated edition, we have the definitive guide to Gissing’s novel. Students will also find the historical documents gathered in this volume an invaluable resource in the study of the “woman question” and the sociology of work in the 1890s.” — Stephen Arata, University of Virginia

“Broadview’s enterprise is especially welcome in the case of The Odd Women, Gissing’s second most commonly studied novel. [This edition] deserves to become the text of choice for teachers--especially given its modest price.” — The Gissing Journal

“When it comes to the complexities of everyday life in late-Victorian London, there is no better guide than Gissing and no better Gissing than The Odd Women. And now, in Arlene Young’s carefully edited and annotated edition, we have the definitive guide to Gissing’s novel. Students will also find the historical documents gathered in this volume an invaluable resource in the study of the “woman question” and the sociology of work in the 1890s.” — Stephen Arata, University of Virginia

“Broadview’s enterprise is especially welcome in the case of The Odd Women, Gissing’s second most commonly studied novel. [This edition] deserves to become the text of choice for teachers--especially given its modest price.” — The Gissing Journal

"When it comes to the complexities of everyday life in late-Victorian London, there is no better guide than Gissing and no better Gissing than The Odd Women. And now, in Arlene Young's carefully edited and annotated edition, we have the definitive guide to Gissing's novel. Students will also find the historical documents gathered in this volume an invaluable resource in the study of the "woman question" and the sociology of work in the 1890s." -- Stephen Arata, University of Virginia

"Broadview's enterprise is especially welcome in the case of The Odd Women, Gissing's second most commonly studied novel. [This edition] deserves to become the text of choice for teachers--especially given its modest price." -- The Gissing Journal

"When it comes to the complexities of everyday life in late-Victorian London, there is no better guide than Gissing and no better Gissing than The Odd Women. And now, in Arlene Young's carefully edited and annotated edition, we have the definitive guide to Gissing's novel. Students will also find the historical documents gathered in this volume an invaluable resource in the study of the "woman question" and the sociology of work in the 1890s." -- Stephen Arata, University of Virginia

"Broadview's enterprise is especially welcome in the case of The Odd Women, Gissing's second most commonly studied novel. [This edition] deserves to become the text of choice for teachers--especially given its modest price." -- The Gissing Journal

From the Back Cover:

George Gissing's The Odd Women dramatizes key issues relating to class and gender in late-Victorian culture: the changing relationship between the sexes, the social impact of 'odd' or 'redundant' women, the cultural impact of 'the new woman, ' and the opportunities for and conditions of employment in the expanding service sector of the economy. At the heart of these issues as many late Victorians saw them was a problem of the imbalance in the ratio of men to women in the population. There were more females than males, which meant that more and more women would be left unmarried; they would be 'odd' or 'redundant, ' and would be forced to be independent and to find work to support themselves. In the Broadview edition, Gissing's text is carefully annotated and accompanied by a range of documents from the period that help to lay out the context in which the book was written.

In Gissing's story, Virginia Madden and her two sisters are confronted upon the death of their father with sudden impoverishment. Without training for employment, and desperate to maintain middle-class respectability, they face a daunting struggle. In Rhoda Nunn, a strong feminist, Gissing also presents a strong character who draws attention overtly to the issues behind the novel. The Odd Women is one of the most important social novels of the late nineteenth century.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0140433791
• ISBN 13: 9780140433791
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416