Women and the Rise of the Novel, 1405-1726 (PDF)

Josephine Donovan is Professor Emerita of English at the University of Maine, USA. She is the author or editor of thirteen books, including Feminist Theory: The Intellectual Traditions, 4th edition (2012), named an 'Outstanding Academic Book' by Choice; European Local-Color Literature (2010); The Feminist Care Tradition in Animal Ethics (co-edited) (2007), as well as numerous articles and essays.

"A work of extraordinary significance . . . Donovan has defined the field clearly, forthrightly, often brilliantly. All future discussion of the subject begins here." - CHOICE

"Significant, ambitious, and timely . . . At its best Donovan's work precisely and elegantly." - Modern Philology

"[The] arguments are elegantly presented . . . lively and erudite." - The Comparatist

"Although Donovan establishes a complex theoretical framework, her study is accessible and jargon free. Informed, judicious, and insightful, Women and the Rise of the Novel should be required reading for all students of early fiction." - Eighteenth Century Woman

"Donovan's straightforward prose is easy and pleasant to read and her central points are . . . articulately stated." - Speculum

"Add[s] substantially to our understanding of the prehistory of the novel." - Huntington Library Quarterly

"Illuminating . . . offers a convincing thesis." - Renaissance Quarterly

"Valuable contribution . . . very useful." - Studies in the Novel

"Provides useful new ways of thinking about women writers and the novel." - Studies in English Literature

"Donovan reveals a previously unseen vista for scholars of the early novel or women's writing." - Sixteenth Century

"Bold and provocative." - Eighteenth-Century Studies

"It provides a wealth of important information . . . well worth reading." - Early Modern Women Journal