This volume discusses the lives and writings of five nonconformist women who comprised the heart of a vibrant literary circle in England between 1760 and 1840. Whelan shows these women's keen awareness and often radical viewpoints on contemporary issues connected to politics, religion, gender, and the Romantic sensibility.

Timothy Whelan brings to this volume a formidable reputation as editor and interpreter of English female authors of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, having presided over the eight-volume edition of Nonconformist Women Writers, 17201840 . we have cause to thank Professor Whelan for bringing to the attention of historians a wider range of primary sources, including many still in manuscript, for the religious nonconformity of this period than was previously available. (G. M. Ditchfield, The Journal of the Historical Association, October, 2016)

Autorentext
Timothy Whelan is Professor in the English Department at Georgia Southern University.

Inhalt
Preface 1. A Nonconformist Women's Literary Tradition 2. Mary Steele (1753-1813) and a West Country Tradition of Dissenting Women's Poetry 3. Mary Steele as the 'Rustic Maid' 4. Mary Scott (1751-1793) 5. Jane Attwater (1753-1843) 6. Elizabeth Coltman (1761-1838)