Cheek explores the rise of women's writing as a distinct, transnational category in Britain and Europe over the long 18th century, characterized by stories about heroines who transcend their gendered destiny.

Preface
Chapter 1. Networks of Women Writers Circa 1785-87
Chapter 2. Two Quarrels
Chapter 3. Ravishing and Romance Language
Chapter 4. The Repertoire of the School for Girls
Chapter 5. Heroines and Local Girls
Chapter 6. Heroines in the World
Notes
Works Cited
Index
Acknowledgments

Pamela L. Cheek is Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of New Mexico and author of Sexual Antipodes: Enlightenment Globalization and the Placing of Sex.