The Story of a Modern Woman

by Ella Hepworth Dixon

Ella Hepworth Dixon's The Story of a Modern Woman originally appeared in serial form in the women's weekly The Lady's Pictorial. Like Hepworth Dixon herself, the novel's heroine Mary Erle is a woman writer struggling to make her living as a journalist in the 1880s. Forced by her father's sudden death to support herself, Mary Erle turns to writing three-penny-a-line fiction, works that (as her editor insists) must have a ball in the first volume, a picnic and a parting in the second, and an opportune death in the third.

This Broadview edition's rich selection of historical documents helps to contextualize The Story of a Modern Woman in relation to contemporary debates about the "New Woman."

Genres: Classics, Victorian, Fiction, 19th Century, Feminism, Womens, Novels

295 pages, Paperback

First published January 14, 1894

About the author

Ella Hepworth Dixon (1855-1932) was a British author during the late Victorian period. Her best known work is the New Woman novel The Story of a Modern Woman. This novel was published in 1894.

Reviews

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. Very engaging, interesting and thought-provoking. Well worth a read.

[jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

reading some of these reviews and it looks like i’m in the minority…… but i think dixon’s prose is so well done and at times breathtaking. it was really depressing but also so insightful…. the beginning was slow and i’m leaning towards a 4.5 but i’m giving it 5 stars so as to not deliberately hurt another woman☝🏼

[Keymil · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5.

literally so draining

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this reread more and this time I really cared about Mary.

3.5 stars. Ella Hepworth Dixon expresses many interesting ideas in this novel, but it left me feeling a bit cold. I wish the character of Mary would have been more fleshed out. Very interesting for my research though. (Review from 2021.)

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

It turns out being a modern woman is just being sad!

[anna marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

well written i thought, n rly interesting but also kind of a nightmare lol

[Rianne K B · Rating 2 out of 5]

one day i'll read a classic and actually enjoy it, but today is still not that day

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. This one gives Jude the Obscure a run for the money in soul-crushingness...

[Rosie Claverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a miserable book. I read it to gain perspective on the New Woman movement from a contemporary novel, and in that sense, I feel I have a better understanding. Some of it comes across quite heavy-handed at times, but I'm sure it was radical for the era.

It is the pessimistic view of a woman defeated by her modern life - "damned if you do, damned if you don't" and ending in very fatalistic "what's the point of it all?" philosophy.

Interesting for research, but its readability hasn't endured.

[Karen]

Excellent example of a New Woman novel. Main character is largely based on Ella Hepworth Dixon, who makes a living as a writer at the end of the 19th C in London. She refuses to do harm to another woman by hooking up with her former (now married) boyfriend. Good stuff, fairly interesting look at how women's behavior changed at the end of the 19th c.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given what I've heard about this book, I was surprised by how long it took me to get into it. Mary's story is powerful and gripping but it starts slow building gradually to the drama and demostration of the battles that women in the 1890s had to go through to be seen as equal(ish). I don't know if this is because it was told through a narrator but as events picked up and Mary battled against more and more societal pressures and expectations I really started to warm to her and cheer her on. There were moments where I cringed as she gave in to certain expectation but she managed to pull it back and prove that you don't have to settle down to be happy and content, as long as you are willing to fight for it. Something that I think still rings true today, sadly.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOW HAVE I NOT COME ACROSS THIS BOOK BEFORE. This book desperately needs to be on more syllabi. Sometimes I felt like (actually, a lot of the time,) the third-person narrator dipped into my own consciousness as she described Mary's train of thought. This book has transcended the test of time, illustrating how Dixon's modern woman, in many ways, continues to persevere against human law and order. An incredible book to teach when covering the rise of "New Woman" literature. Will probably be reading this one again in my academic career. Highly recommend to anyone who studies or enjoys discovering new and old feminist literature.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant and heartbreaking, this contained far more critique on the 'scene' than I had expected, especially with regard to the burgeoning publishing/periodical scene and, perhaps, the 'who you know' element of the success of (middle-class) 'independent women'. I believe I read the serialized or original version, not the 'published' later editions, with some changes/differences between the two. I should read the 'published' version to see what changed proper and why...

[Shaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was depressing! Clearly my forays into Victorian fiction are completely haphazard, but this late Victorian novel is an interesting look into women's lives at that time. Even if its not even a little cheerful, I still appreciated reading something written in this time, since so much historical fantasy and mainstream fiction that I read seems to be set in or inspired by this era.

Wikipedia also tells me this is an example of a new woman novel and is inspired by the authors life.

[Chelsea Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another book I had to read for my class. I think I enjoyed this one the most so far! It was interesting to read a New Woman novel. I did feel like it was a bit brief, but I did appreciate that it was a glimpse into the life of a modern woman at this time. I think I might look into reading other New Woman novels in the future!

[Robbie Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best selling authors of her day, then pushed into obscurity by the male academics of the 20th century. Tells the story of an independent Victorian woman; tragic in an understated, quiet, real life way. So sad that the same misogyny the main characters face is what drove this book into obscurity centuries later.

[Ashlynn Faulkner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I understand where some are coming from saying this novel may be too wordy or the protagonist is on the boring side, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The protagonist, Mary is a 'New Woman' in this New Woman novel, she may seem boring to people but I believe that allows her to be more relatable to women reading this Victorian novel. A good read and one that does not take up too much time!

[Leila]

Read for school so did not rate. A decent read but the language choices were very okay. Found the writing within the text a bit underwhelming especially in comparison with the other works we read in this class. Did appreciate the changing tide of 1890s feminism, the shift towards supporting women, and the fact that things really did turn out alright for the protagonist.

[SloaneKindle · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOTES TO SELF: I began reading this on 03/19/25 and probably finished around 03/26/28. I read this for ENGL 482: Major Authors: Oscar Wilde in Spring 2025. I enjoyed it but it was frustrating how Mary couldn't have loved another man and lived her happily ever after because she hadn't done anything wrong but she was betrayed by the man she loved.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This 1894 novel explores the limitations which women experienced within their social roles in late Victorian England through its artist-turned-story writer protagonist, Mary Erle. The book generally provides a good, solid example of New Woman fiction (albeit a bit ordinary-sounding, if you've read multiple examples of this genre).

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick Victorian Lit immersion therapy about a young woman who leaves us asking what IS the "modern woman" and do we like her? If I was alive during 1894, I think I would befriend Mary Erle. A quiet, hard-working, do-er heroine who shows us that life in London does not look like Jane Austen's.

[Karlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful prose. Disappointing heroine. But I could be misunderstanding her as my modern lens tends to overlook Victorian aspects of society. I just don’t understand why she couldn’t move on from the guy? Her liberation would have been so much sweeter.

[Coop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite excellent. This is very different from most Victorian lit I’ve read. It smacks more of 19c. french and russian realism than English writing from the time, in my opinion. Hints strongly at the Modernist style. Highly psychological.

[Alice Brooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way she writes men who inly pretend to listen is insane! Dixon is so good at exposing the subtleties of misogyny in this period. The book is infuriating to read, but in the best way!!

[Christopher Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd writing.

[Scarlett O.H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I had not thought I would like this book so much. It was first published in 1894 and really captures the changing (to more modern) world where woman had to try and survive.

Really good book to read for young (and older) feminists who would like to have an inside look at how the reality was of the attitude towards women and the possibilities and opportunities open to those women that did not have a husband to care for them and keep them. From a very young age (when I was eleven or twelve) it struck me as terribly unfair that there were all these expectations about women and the way they should act and how virtueous they should be and almost no opportunities to make your own money. You should just starve and keep your gentility in tact! And wait for a man that would marry you and take care of you. Still makes me mad!!!

I am glad and thankfull to all the women before me who have fought for womens rights that we now have options and possibilities to make our own way. Also I am glad that I am not burdened anymore with all of these strange notions about my virtue and I can take my own destiny in my own hand and love whomever I want and also, finish with them and start a new love if I am so inclined without becomming destitude or having to earn my money in degrading ways. HA!

I sincerely wish this on all women all over the world, hope we get there as fast as possible.

Sorry, this book got me worked up a bit and I think that was the whole point of this book anyway.
That said. I really strongly recomend this book, I think its free or one dollar from kindle amazon and its really worth your time. (It was also beautifully written)

[Dizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this novel for my Victorian lit class. I really REALLY enjoyed it. The writing itself is fantastic, emotive, clever, funny, heartrending... Beautiful.

The story paints a very bleak picture of life as a Victorian middle/lower class woman. It's depressing, it's grounded in realism, and it has an ambiguous ending. This is a pretty great read, though. (Can you hear my lit class...? Haha.)

I would recommend it as just a casual read as well. It's accessible, clearly written, and fairly fast paced.

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely written with a lot of social commentary worked in alongside the storyline rather than shoved down the reader's throat as an entirely separate issue. That said, it's obvious what the book is about and meant to support.

Liked the neglection of certain elements/endings as it mirrors how reality doesn't have a neat end to narratives

The circular story is a bit too obvious but it's meant to be an obvious book.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mary Erle... I want to smack you. Okay no not really... but this book just got tiresome at times. It starts off interesting and then she goes on about Vincent blah blah and it just goes downhill from there. Not the worse book I've read... but for a fun read I wouldn't recommend it. I never knew that being a modern woman was so depressing!

[kp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard-hitting "new woman" novel about a young woman seeking to make her way in a bustling, complacent, and inhospitable London. Eye-opening social critique bolstered by vivid description and a shockingly Darwinian view of women's possibilities.