JEANNETTE KING is Emeritus Professor in English at the University of Aberdeen, UK. Having taught part-time for many years for the Open University while bringing up her children, she moved into Further Education before becoming a Lecturer in Women's Studies in the Department of English at Aberdee in 1995 where she taught until her retirement.

• Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: BECOMING VISIBLE Crones, Viragoes or Wise Women? Discourses of Female Ageing 1850-1900 Spinsters, Widows and Mothers: Fictional Responses The Demented Other PART II: THE 1960s AND AFTER Second-wave Feminism: Sisterhood and 'My Generation' 'If the Old Could': Bridging the Generation Gap Autobiographical Fictions of Female Ageing PART III: The 1990s Discourses of Female Ageing at the Fin-de-siècle The Sexual Politics of Ageing Conclusion: Shaking A Leg At Age: Angela Carter, Wise Children Notes Bibliography Index