British Women Writing Fiction - Hardcover

9780817309824: British Women Writing Fiction

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0817309829 ISBN 13: 9780817309824

Publisher: The University of Alabama Press, 2000

An informal, jargon-free introduction to the fiction of 16 contemporary writers either brought up or now living in England, from Muriel Spark to Jeanette Winterson. It seeks to present a balanced view of women's writing since the 1950s and 1960s, those who attracted critical attention during the 1970s and 1980s, and those who have burst upon the literary scene more recently, including Afro-Caribbean and African women. The essays show how each of these writers treats British subjects and themes, sometimes from radically different perspectives, and how those who are daughters of immigrants see themselves as women writing on the margins of society. Abby Werlock's introduction explores the historical and aesthetic factors that have contributed to this genre, showing how even those writers who began in a traditional vein have created experimental work. The contributors provide complete bibliographies of each writer's works and selected bibliographies of criticism.

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Review

"Abby Werlock's collection is unique in the breadth of writers covered; in the multiplicity of critical approaches; in the mix of well-known and emerging writers, of serious and popular novelists. In an illuminating introduction, Werlock investigates the historical, political, social, and literary forces that have created the heterogeneity of contemporary English women's literature. " Helen Pike Bauer, Iona College"

"This imaginative collection offers a well-selected mix of original essays on both long-established novelists and important younger or specialized-genre figures. As such, it provides a valuable double purpose: to reassess oft-studied figures and to bring newer or less-familiar writers to critical attention. It is likely to prove a valuable, enduring contribution to the scholarship. " Paul Schlueter, coeditor of An Encyclopedia of British Women Writers"

About the Author

Abby H. P. Werlock, formerly a professor of American literature at St. Olaf College, is now a writer. She has published books on both American and British literature and ispresident of the Edith Wharton Society."

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