What do you think?
Rate this book
Becoming a Woman of Letters: Myths of Authorship and Facts of the Victorian Market
During the nineteenth century, women authors for the first time achieved professional status, secure income, and public fame. How did these women enter the literary profession; meet the demands of editors, publishers, booksellers, and reviewers; and achieve distinction as "women of letters"? Becoming a Woman of Letters examines the various ways women writers negotiated the market realities of authorship, and looks at the myths and models women writers constructed to elevate their place in the profession.
Drawing from letters, contracts, and other archival material, Linda Peterson details the careers of various women authors from the Victorian period. Some, like Harriet Martineau, adopted the practices of their male counterparts and wrote for periodicals before producing a best seller; others, like Mary Howitt and Alice Meynell, began in literary partnerships with their husbands and pursued independent careers later in life; and yet others, like Charlotte Brontë, and her successors Charlotte Riddell and Mary Cholmondeley, wrote from obscure parsonages or isolated villages, hoping an acclaimed novel might spark a meteoric rise to fame. Peterson considers these women authors' successes and failures--the critical esteem that led to financial rewards and lasting reputations, as well as the initial successes undermined by publishing trends and pressures.
Exploring the burgeoning print culture and the rise of new genres available to Victorian women authors, this book provides a comprehensive account of the flowering of literary professionalism in the nineteenth century.
Drawing from letters, contracts, and other archival material, Linda Peterson details the careers of various women authors from the Victorian period. Some, like Harriet Martineau, adopted the practices of their male counterparts and wrote for periodicals before producing a best seller; others, like Mary Howitt and Alice Meynell, began in literary partnerships with their husbands and pursued independent careers later in life; and yet others, like Charlotte Brontë, and her successors Charlotte Riddell and Mary Cholmondeley, wrote from obscure parsonages or isolated villages, hoping an acclaimed novel might spark a meteoric rise to fame. Peterson considers these women authors' successes and failures--the critical esteem that led to financial rewards and lasting reputations, as well as the initial successes undermined by publishing trends and pressures.
Exploring the burgeoning print culture and the rise of new genres available to Victorian women authors, this book provides a comprehensive account of the flowering of literary professionalism in the nineteenth century.
312 pages, Hardcover
First published June 11, 2009
2 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
Read
February 15, 2010The notion of a professional writer is not much older than a hundred years. Before that was the "person of letters," which had connotations of leisure and intellectual, if not social, elitism. A professional writer, Lewes argued in the 1840s, makes a respectable living, and so should be considered a professional as are doctors and lawyers.
Peterson's collection of essays looks at women of the nineteenth century, which in a way was a long dialogue with the novel (as well as with creators of the novel), and she tries not to rely on "the usual suspects." Harriet Martineau (boxoffice boffo of the 1830s, Mary Howitt, and others less known are her subjects.
Central is Mrs Gaskell's bio of Charlotte Bronte, in which she argues that women can be professional writers without harming their domestic duties. This attitude was hailed as welcome by many women, and Gaskell certainly did her best to live it herself--which is probably why she dropped dead at a relatively young age.
Women who have struggled to justify a career outside of the home while still doing the (usually thankless) full time job of domestic caretaking are trying to live two lives at once. This book looks at the origins of these ideas, and examines writers, writing, and attitudes of professionalism from a female point of view. (less)
Peterson's collection of essays looks at women of the nineteenth century, which in a way was a long dialogue with the novel (as well as with creators of the novel), and she tries not to rely on "the usual suspects." Harriet Martineau (boxoffice boffo of the 1830s, Mary Howitt, and others less known are her subjects.
Central is Mrs Gaskell's bio of Charlotte Bronte, in which she argues that women can be professional writers without harming their domestic duties. This attitude was hailed as welcome by many women, and Gaskell certainly did her best to live it herself--which is probably why she dropped dead at a relatively young age.
Women who have struggled to justify a career outside of the home while still doing the (usually thankless) full time job of domestic caretaking are trying to live two lives at once. This book looks at the origins of these ideas, and examines writers, writing, and attitudes of professionalism from a female point of view. (less)
Displaying 1 of 1 review