Published in two volumes, Howells's studies in the great heroines of nineteenth century English-language fiction make delightful reading. This first volume takes the reader from Fanny Burney's unforgettable Evelina to the Bronte sisters' remarkable Jane and Catherine. Along the way, female protagonists from the works of Edgeworth, Austen, Radcliffe, Scott, Dickens, Hawthorne, and Thackeray, among others, are closely and keenly observed.