Challenging previous studies that claim anxiety and antagonism between transatlantic Victorian authors, Jennifer Cognard-Black uncovers a model of reciprocal influence among three of the most popular women writers of the era. Combining analyses of personal correspondence and print culture with close readings of key narratives, this study presents a

Jennifer Cognard-Black

List of Illustrations, List of Cited Collections, Acknowledgments, Introduction, Chapter One: "You Are as Thoroughly Woman as You Are English": Strong Femininity and the Making of George Eliot, Chapter Two: "The Wild and Distracted Call for Proof": Harriet Beecher Stowe's Lady Byron Vindicated and the New Professionalism, Chapter Three: "A More Living Interest": George Eliot's Daniel Deronda and the Politics of American Reception, Chapter Four: "Proclaiming the Royal Lineage to the Average Mind": High-Art Aesthetics, the Novel, and Competing Femininities in Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's The Story of Avis, Afterword, Notes, Bibliography, Index