The Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction

by John Sutherland

With over 900 biographical entries, more than 600 novels synopsized, and a wealth of background material on the publishers, reviewers and readers of the age the Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction is the fullest account of the period's fiction ever published. Now in a second edition, the book has been revised and a generous selection of images have been chosen to illustrate various aspects of Victorian publishing, writing, and reading life. Organised alphabetically, the information provided will be a boon to students, researchers and all lovers of reading. The entries, though concise, meet the high standards demanded by modern scholarship. The writing - marked by Sutherland's characteristic combination of flair, clarity and erudition - is of such a high standard that the book is a joy to read, as well as a definitive work of reference.

736 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

John Andrew Sutherland is an English academic, newspaper columnist and author. He is Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London.

Reviews

[John Bellamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So you think you know your Victorian fiction? Well, I foolishly thought I did until a recent reading of Sutherland’s Lives of the Novelists led me back to this treasure, first published nearly a quarter-century ago. Sutherland admits to having read over 3,000 Victorian novels for his Companion but it must be said that he wears such profound learning lightly. It would be absurd to say that it reads like a novel—but it is, indeed, that very rare thing, a reference book that is an immense and page-turning pleasure to read. Sutherland’s literary judgments are sound, his pawky wit is generously sprinkled throughout the 700+ pages of text and only the most unsusceptible reader will emerge from it without an extensive list of Victorian titles to pursue.