The Romance of a Shop (1888) is a novel by Amy Levy. Published the year before her tragic death, The Romance of a Shop is the debut novel of a pioneering writer and feminist whose poetry and prose explores the concept of the New Woman while illuminating the realities of Jewish life in nineteenth century London. “The air of desolation which hung about the house had communicated itself in some vague manner to the garden, where the trees were bright with blossom, or misty with the tender green of the young leaves. Perhaps the effect of sadness was produced, or at least heightened, by the pathetic figure that paced slowly up and down the gravel path immediately before the house; the figure of a young woman, slight, not tall, bare-headed, and clothed in deep mourning.” Following the unexpected death of their father, sisters Fanny, Gertrude, Lucy, and Phyllis are left with little inheritance and even less hope for the future. On the brink of despair, they join together to launch a photography business, each contributing to the best of their abilities in order to survive. As Lucy begins an apprenticeship with a local photographer, her sisters purchase and prepare their own studio for her return. Despite their efforts, they struggle to convince customers that a shop owned by women can demand the same prices as those run by men. Through perseverance and luck, however, the Lorimers find success as funeral photographers and through their connection to a prominent artist. As romance, illness, and war interrupt their plans, the sisters find solace in their mutual resolve to not only survive, but provide and care for one another. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition Amy Levy’s The Romance of a Shop is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

Amy Levy has risen to prominence in recent years as one of the most innovative and perplexing writers of her generation. Embraced by feminist scholars for her radical experimentation with queer poetic voice and her witty journalistic pieces on female independence, she remains controversial for her representations of London Jewry that draw unmistakably on contemporary antisemitic discourse. Amy Levy: Critical Essays brings together scholars working in the fields of Victorian cultural history, women’s poetry and fiction, and the history of Anglo-Jewry. The essays trace the social, intellectual, and political contexts of Levy’s writing and its contemporary reception. Working from close analyses of Levy’s texts, the collection aims to rethink her engagement with Jewish identity, to consider her literary and political identifications, to assess her representations of modern consumer society and popular culture, and to place her life and work within late-Victorian cultural debate. This book is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students offering both a comprehensive literature review of scholarship-to-date and a range of new critical perspectives. Contributors: Susan David Bernstein,University of Wisconsin-Madison Gail Cunningham,Kingston University Elizabeth F. Evans,Pennslyvania State University–DuBois Emma Francis,Warwick University Alex Goody,Oxford Brookes University T. D. Olverson,University of Newcastle upon Tyne Lyssa Randolph,University of Wales, Newport Meri-Jane Rochelson,Florida International University

After a century of critical neglect, poet and writer Amy Levy is gaining recognition as a literary figure of stature. This definitive biography accompanied by her letters, along with the recent publication of her selected writings, provides a critical appreciation of Levy's importance in her own time and in ours. As an educated Jewish woman with homoerotic desires, Levy felt the strain of combating the structures of British society in the 1880s, the decade in which she built her career and moved in London's literary and bohemian circles. Unwilling to cut herself off from her Jewish background, she had the additional burden of attempting to bridge the gap between communities. In Amy Levy: Her Life and Letters Linda Hunt Beckman examines Levy's writings and other cultural documents for insight into her emotional and intellectual life. This groundbreaking study introduces us to a woman well deserving of a place in literary and cultural history.

“In the Night I Dreamed of You” is a collection of poetry by British poet Amy Levy connected through the common themes of love, dreams, and death. Levy suffered with major depression, growing worse as she got closer to her 30s and becoming aware of her growing deafness. Although showing such talents at a young age, Levy took her own life 2 months before her 28th birthday. This collection looks into the mind of this struggling poet and perhaps her final poetic thoughts and struggles with depression. Contents include: “New Love, New Life”, “Impotens”, “Youth and Love”, “The Dream”, “On the Threshold”, “The Birch-Tree at Loschwitz”, “In the Night”, “Borderland”, “At Dawn”, “Last Words”, “June”, “Reminiscence”, “The Sequel to 'A Reminiscence'”, “In the Mile End Road”, “Contradictions”, “Twilight”, and “In September”. Amy Judith Levy (1861–1889) was a British poet, novelist, and essayist. She was notably the first Jewish woman to study at Cambridge university, and she became well-known for her feminist positions as well as her romantic relationships with both male and female political and literature figures. Other works by this author include: “Xantippe and Other Verse” (1881), “The Romance of a Shop” (1888), and “Miss Meredith” (1889). As part of our poetry imprint "Ragged Hand" Read & Co. is proudly publishing this brand new collection of classic poetry complete with an introductory biography of the author by Richard Garnett.