Nineteenth-Century Stories by Women: An Anthology

by Glennis Stephenson (Editor)

“The female novelist of the nineteenth century may have frequently encountered opposition and interference from the male literary establishment, but the female short story writer, working in a genre that was seen as less serious and less profitable, found her work to be actively encouraged.” ― from the Introduction. During the nineteenth century women writers finally began to be as popular―and as respected―as their male counterparts. We are all familiar with the novels of Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot and the Bröntes. Less familiar is the short fiction of the period; yet a great many nineteenth-century stories by women―both famous and obscure―retain in full measure their power to fascinate and to entertain. For this anthology Glennis Stephenson brings together stories by both British and North American writers; by such established luminaries as Shelley, Gaskell and Kate Chopin; and by lesser-known writers such as the Anglo-Indian writer Flora Steel, the Afro-American Alice Dunbar Nelson and the Canadian Annie Howells Frèchette. The result is an anthology that will be as interesting to the general reader as it will be useful to the student. Stephenson provides background information on all authors, together with a general introduction.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics

504 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 1995

Reviews

[Paul Weiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The female novelist of the nineteenth century may have frequently encountered opposition and interference …”

“…from the male literary establishment, but the female short story writer, working in a genre that was seen as less serious and less profitable, found her work to be actively encouraged.”

Anyone who has reveled in the delicious beauty of the likes of JANE EYRE, THE TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL, LITTLE WOMEN, MIDDLEMARCH, FRANKENSTEIN or ANNE OF GREEN GABLES knows that nineteenth century female authors had plenty of writing chops, plenty of stories to tell, plenty of social issues on which to pass comment, and no reason to yield place to any mere male critic or fellow author, no matter how skilled that competing male author might have been. If these authors fall into your reading wheelhouse, then Glennis Stephenson’s carefully curated anthology will definitely appeal to you.

NINETEENTH CENTURY STORIES BY WOMEN offers classic readers a chance to experience significantly lesser known works by some already well known authors and to sample works by their contemporaneous colleagues whose work never quite managed to make it to the big leagues. While your mileage may vary, I ranked individual stories from a single DNF to a good sample of thoroughly enjoyable 5-star entries. My favourites were:

A WHISPER IN THE DARK – Louisa May Alcott
GOOD LADY DUCAYNE – Mary Elizabeth Braddon
THE YELLOW WALLPAPER – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
A WHITE HERON – Sarah Orne Jewett
A STORY OF A WEDDING TOUR – Margaret Oliphant

Recommended for those looking to expand their horizons in the area of Victorian era classics.

Paul Weiss

[Jeff Hobbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Whisper in the Dark / Louisa May Alcott --2
Good Lady Ducayne / Mary Elizabeth Braddon --3
The Storm / Kate Chopin --2
Extradited / Isabella Valancy Crawford --2
The Pleasure-Pilgrim / Ella D'Arcy --3
Anne / Rebecca Harding Davis --4
Sister Josepha / Alice Dunbar-Nelson --2
Gone Under / George Egerton --3
A Widow in the Wilderness / Annie Howells Frechette --2
A New England Nun / Mary Wilkins Freeman --3
Lizzie Leigh / Elizabeth Gaskell --3
The Old Nurse's Story / Elizabeth Gaskell --3
The Yellow Wallpaper / Charlotte Perkins Gilman --3
A White Heron / Sarah Orne Jewett --2
Dionea / Vernon Lee --2
The Red Room / L.M. Montgomery --3
A Story of a Wedding Tour / Margaret Oliphant --3
The Parvenue / Mary Shelley --3
Circumstance / Harriet Prescott Spofford --3
Mussumat Kirpo's Doll / Flora Annie Steel --2
Felipa / Constance Fenimore Woolson--3

[Sharon Healy-Yang · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of short stories by nineteenth-century women writers, some well known, others wonderfully rediscovered. Mary Shelley, Sarah Orne Jewett, Kate chopin, Elizabeth Gaskell, Harriet Prescott Spofford, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman are some of the frequently anthologized writers whose names many will recognize - though some more for their novels than for their short stories. I was delighted to renew acquaintance or make the new acquaintance of writers such as Constance Fennimore Woolson, Florrie Anne Steel, Anne Howells Freshette, and Alice Dunbar-Nelson, to name a few. Many of the short stories have a supernatural or bitingly ironic bent. All seem to reveal the intelligence and strength of women when not oppressed.