Original essays by American and British scholars offer a reader-friendly introduction to the work of Angela Carter, Doris Lessing, and a dozen other British women writers

British women in the second half of the 20th century have produced a body of work that is as diverse as it is entertaining. This book offers an informal, jargon-free introduction to the fiction of sixteen contemporary writers either brought up or now living in England, from Muriel Spark to Jeanette Winterson.

British Women Writing Fiction presents a balanced view comprising women writing since the 1950s and 1960s, those who attracted critical attention during the 1970s and 1980s, and those who have burst upon the literary scene more recently, including African-Caribbean and African women. The essays show how all of these writers treat British subjects and themes, sometimes from radically different perspectives, and how those who are daughters of immigrants see themselves as women writing on the margins of society.

Abby Werlock's introduction explores the historical and aesthetic factors that have contributed to the genre, showing how even those writers who began in a traditional vein have created experimental work. The contributors provide complete bibliographies of each writer's works and selected bibliographies of criticism. Exceptional both in its breadth of subjects covered and critical approaches taken, this book provides essential background that will enable readers to appreciate the singular merits of each writer. It offers an approach toward better understanding favorite authors and provides a way to become acquainted with new ones.

Abby H. P. Werlock, formerly a professor of American literature at St. Olaf College, is now a writer. She has published books on both American and British literature and is president of the Edith Wharton Society.

"Abby Werlock's collection is unique in the breadth of writers covered; in the multiplicity of critical approaches; in the mix of well-known and emerging writers, of serious and popular novelists. In an illuminating introduction, Werlock investigates the historical, political, social, and literary forces that have created the heterogeneity of contemporary English women's literature. "

—Helen Pike Bauer, Iona College

"This imaginative collection offers a well-selected mix of original essays on both long-established novelists and important younger or specialized-genre figures. As such, it provides a valuable double purpose: to reassess oft-studied figures and to bring newer or less-familiar writers to critical attention. It is likely to prove a valuable, enduring contribution to the scholarship. "

—Paul Schlueter, coeditor of An Encyclopedia of British Women Writers