This third volume of Q. D. Leavis's essays brings together pieces on hitherto unexplored aspects of Victorian literature. Most of these date from towards the end of her life and are previously unpublished. There are also essays and reviews which appeared originally in Scrutiny. Mrs Leavis focuses on the novel of religious controversy, the Anglo-Irish novel, women writers of the nineteenth century, and certain aspects of George Eliot's work. She examines these, and other relevant writing, from literary, historical and sociological points of view. The volume affords valuable new insights into nineteenth-century literature, and affirms Mrs Leavis's standing as a pioneering and penetrating critic.
