Women, Literature and Finance in Victorian Britain

Nancy Henry is the Nancy Goslee Professor of English at the University of Tennessee, USA. She is the author of George Eliot and the British Empire (2002), The Cambridge Introduction to George Eliot (2008) and The Life of George Eliot (2012) and co-editor of Victorian Investments: New Perspectives on Finance and Literature (2009).

“Woman, Literature and Finance is an engrossing work and a welcome continuation of Henry’s research interests on the intersection between cultural representation and finance, most notably as co-editor of Victorian Investments: New Perspectives on Finance and Literature (2009). Henry commands a broad swathe of literary and historical sources.” (BAVS Newsletter, Vol. 19 (3), 2019)“This is a rich and important study. … This book will be of benefit to anyone interested in nineteenth-century gender, authorship, community, or finance.” (Jill Rappoport, Studies in the Novel, Vol. 51 (3), 2019)“This is a fascinating book, with new material, particularly on Riddell’s and Oliphant’s lives and novels and original critiques of their financial writings as well as those of Gaskell and Eliot.” (Janette Rutterford, Business History Review, Vol. 93 (1), 2019)“Archival research and close literary readings is one of the great pleasures of the book. … This fascinating and informative new study is a must-read for scholars and students interested in Victorian political economy and women’s writing. The individual-author format of the chapters makes them ideal for assigning in graduate or advanced undergraduate classes, where they will provide invaluable context for, and deepen and enrich, readings of novels treating (often opaque) economic and financial themes.” (Deanna K. Kreisel, Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies, Vol. 15 (2), 2019)

• Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Women Investors in Fact.- Chapter 3: Investment Cultures in Dickens, Trollope and Gissing.- Chapter 4: Elizabeth Gaskell: Investment Cultures and Global Contexts.- Chapter 5: George Eliot: Money’s Past and Money’s Future.- Chapter 6: Charlotte Riddell’s Financial Life and Fiction.- Chapter 7: Margaret Oliphant, Women and Money.- Chapter 8: Conclusion.