A guide to English novels written by women.

In 1880 the concept of girlhood as a separate stage of existence was barely present. But in the decades that followed, due in part to changes in the legal definition of childhood, a new cultural category was inscribed in a flood of popular books and magazines. Indeed, by the turn of the century working-class and middle-class girls were beginning to control enough of their own time and pocket money that publishing for them was a lucrative business.

Based on an analysis of 58 novels written by black American women between 1891 and 1965, the volume discusses the emergence of writing by black women, their major concerns and themes, their relevance to specific groups and the social, economic, moral, and political viewpoints disclosed. Watson focuses on 10 novels during the periods 1891-1920, 1921-1945, and 1946-1965, and discusses their literary characteristics and aesthetic achievement. These include the novels of Frances Harper, Pauline Hopkins, Jessie Fauset, Zora Neale Hurston, Ann Petry, Paule Marshall, and Kristin Hunter. The author discusses the use of fiction as a weapon of protest; race consciousness and self-criticism, concerns such as middle-class values and the ideal of self-help in the novels written after World War I; the maturity of the novels after World War II; and the characteristic Afro-American fiction as compared to mainstream American fiction. ISBN 0-313-23630-5: $27.95.

This widely acclaimed book has been described by History Today as a 'landmark in the study of the women's movement'. It is the only comprehensive reference work to bring together in one volume the wealth of information available on the women's movement. Drawing on national and local archival sources, the book contains over 400 biographical entries and more than 800 entries on societies in England, Scotland and Wales. Easily accessible and rigorously cross-referenced, this invaluable resource covers not only the political developments of the campaign but provides insight into its cultural context, listing novels, plays and films.