THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO ENGLISH NOVELISTS

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn

Leading scholars and critics examine celebrated and enduring English novelists from the British Isles in a developing tradition of fictional prose over the past three centuries. For each author, the volume explains significance in its own time, explores relationships with predecessors and successors, and analyzes major novels. Excluding living writers, it covers figures such as Defoe, Richardson, Austen, Dickens, the Brontës, George Eliot, Hardy, James, Lawrence, Joyce, and Woolf. Designed as a practical guide for teaching and study.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages477

Reading Time12 h 15 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Notes on contributors

Daniel Defoe

Samuel Richardson

Henry Fielding

Laurence Sterne

Frances Burney

Jane Austen

Walter Scott

Charles Dickens

Guide to further reading

Index

The Cambridge Companion to English Novelists In this Companion, leading scholars and critics address the work of the most celebrated and enduring novelists from the British Isles (excluding living writers), among them Defoe, Richardson, Sterne, Austen, Dickens, the Brontës, George Eliot, Hardy, James, Lawrence, Joyce, and Woolf. The significance of each writer in their own time is explained, the relation of their work to that of predecessors and successors explored, and their most important novels analysed. These essays do not aim to create a canon in a prescriptive way, but taken together they describe a strong, developing tradition of the writing of fictional prose over the past three hundred years. This volume is a helpful guide for those studying and teaching the novel, and will allow readers to consider the significance of less familiar authors such as Henry Green and Elizabeth Bowen alongside those with a more established place in literary history. adrian poole is Professor of English Literature and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. A complete list of books in the series is at the back of this book. THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO ENGLISH NOVELISTS EDITED BY ADRIAN POOLE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, uk Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York [www.cambridge.org](www.cambridge.org) Information on this [title: www.cambridge.org/9780521691574](title: www.cambridge.org/9780521691574)[ ](title: www.cambridge.org/9780521691574)© Cambridge University Press 2009 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2009 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data The Cambridge companion to English novelists / [edited by] Adrian Poole. [p. cm](p. cm). (Cambridge companions to) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-521-87119-8 (hardback) 1. English fiction–History and criticism–Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Poole, Adrian. II. Title. III. Series. pr821.c36 2010 823 ′. 509–dc22 2009033923 isbn 978-0-521-87119-8 Hardback isbn 978-0-521-69157-4 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. CONTENTS Notes on contributors Introduction Adrian Poole 1 Daniel Defoe THOMAS Keymer 2 Samuel Richardson Peter Sabor 3 Henry Fielding Jane Spencer 4 Laurence Sterne Melvyn New 5 Frances Burney Vivien Jones 6 Jane Austen Jocelyn Harris 7 Walter Scott Alison Lumsden 8 Charles Dickens Robert Douglas-Fairhurst 9 William Makepeace Thackeray Nicholas Dames 10 Charlotte Brontë Patsy Stoneman 11 Emily Brontë Heather Glen page vii 1 14 31 48 63 80 98 116 132 149 165 180 Contents 12 Elizabeth Gaskell 193 Brigid Lowe 13 Anthony Trollope 210 David Skilton 14 George Eliot 225 Jill l. Matus 15 Thomas Hardy 242 Penny Boumelha 16 Robert Louis Stevenson 258 Adrian Poole 17 Henry James 272 Michiel Heyns 18 Joseph Conrad 290 Robert Hampson 19 D. H. Lawrence 309 Michael Bell 20 James Joyce 326 Maud Ellmann 21 E. M. Forster 345 Santanu Das 22 Virginia Woolf 361 Maria Dibattista 23 Elizabeth Bowen 377 Victoria Coulson 24 Henry Green 393 Bharat Tandon 25 Evelyn Waugh 407 Anthony Lane 26 Graham Greene 423 Dorothea Barrett 27 William Golding

FAQs

Which novelists are discussed in the Cambridge Companion to English Novelists?

The essays address major English novelists from the British Isles, including Defoe, Richardson, Sterne, Austen, Dickens, the Brontës, George Eliot, Hardy, James, Lawrence, Joyce, and Woolf, among others.

What does the book do for each author’s work?

It explains each writer’s significance in their own time, examines connections to predecessors and successors, and analyzes their most important novels.

Who is the volume intended for?

It serves as a helpful guide for people studying and teaching the novel and helps readers consider both well-known and less familiar authors such as Henry Green and Elizabeth Bowen.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn