Women and the Rise of the Novel, 1405-1726

Women and the Rise of the Novel, 1405-1726 is the first theoretical study of early modern women's contribution to the rise of the novel. Named in its first edition an "Outstanding Academic Book of the Year," by Choice, this second, expanded edition includes two new chapters that extend its scope to include philosophical writings and memoirs. Unique in its comparative and premodern focus, the study examines works in Italian, French, and Spanish, as well as English, highlighting the contributions of writers from Christine de Pizan and Marguerite de Navarre to Margaret Cavendish and Jane Barker. Donovan shows how these women used the theological method of casuistry and the framed-novelle genre to construct a feminist "prosaics", which was essential to the novel's epistemology.

Josephine Donovan is Professor Emerita of English at the University of Maine, USA. She is the author or editor of thirteen books, including Feminist Theory: The Intellectual Traditions, 4th edition (2012), named an 'Outstanding Academic Book' by Choice; European Local-Color Literature (2010); The Feminist Care Tradition in Animal Ethics (co-edited) (2007), as well as numerous articles and essays.

Introduction
1. The Case of the Novel
2. Critical Irony, Standpoint Theory, and the Novel
3. The Women's Framed-Novelle: The French Tradition
4. The Women's Framed-Novelle: The Spanish and English Traditions
5. Circumstances Alter Cases: Women, Casuistry, and the Novel
6. The Nineties Generation: A Feminist Prosaics
7. The Case of Violenta
8. Women Against Romance
9. Women and the Latin Rhetorical Tradition
10. Women's Defense-Narratives and the Novel
11. Women and the Epistemology of the Novel
Conclusion