Book Review: George Gissing, the Working Woman, and Urban Culture by Emma Liggins. Ashgate, 2006

• Published in: Literature & History Vol. 16; no. 2; p. 88
• Main Author: Spencer, Veronica
• Format: Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: London Sage Publications Ltd 01.10.2007
• ISSN: 0306-1973; 2050-4594

Several dominant themes permeate the discussion, such as the nature and value of women's work, woman's place in the city, and her social status, in the context of the rising numbers of women entering the workforce in the late nineteenth century and the ensuing contemporary debates on women's work, education, and gender roles. Always aware of the significance of living in the city for professional women, the study considers Gissing's development of New Woman narrative conventions to create new characterisations that engaged with contemporary debates on women's education, career opportunities, leisure activities, and the perceived conflict between professionalism and womanliness. The author has succeeded in presenting a nuanced account of Gissing's diverse representations of working women, sensitive to the range of his fiction, including lesser known short stories and one-volume novels, his use and subversion of the conventions of naturalist and New Woman narratives, and the cross-fertilisation between fiction, non-literary texts, and public debate at the fin de siècle, to emphasise the importance of the urban experience in the development of modern women's lifestyles.