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Victorian Poetry and Fiction | Great Writers Inspire

Benjamin Disraeli, who turned his skills as a novelist to politics. David Cannadine explores how Disraeli merged fact and fiction in his life and work. The life, beliefs and legacy of Cardinal Newman, being beatified during the Papal visit. Satirist and writer Armando Iannucci chooses novelist Charles Dickens.

Claire Tomalin talks about the poetry of Thomas Hardy. The achievements and legacy of the 19th century literary giant Charles Dickens.

19th-century English novelists

Eliza Carthy chooses Caroline Norton, who campaigned for women in the 19th century. The early successes of Charles Dickens. Claire Tomalin's book about the great novelist.


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Charles Dickens is well-received in America. Claire Tomalin's acclaimed biography.


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  4. A theatrical performance changes the course of Dickens's life. Adulation and farewells for Britain's great novelist. Adam Rutherford with astronomical insights on literature and art. Ex-parliamentary standards commissioner Elizabeth Filkin on the novelist George Eliot.

    The 100 greatest British novels

    Writer Fay Weldon and biographer Vincent Brome discuss the life of the visionary novelist. Ernie Rea and guests discuss the religion of Jane Austen. Only a quarter of them were women. Earlier this year, when that same newspaper offered up another list — Novels Everyone Should Read — women authors accounted for only three of the top 10 books, and a dismal 19 of the full When he revealed his all-time top 10 in August, he named four novels by women. In all, however, works by female authors accounted for only one in five of his chosen titles.

    For starters, it focuses strictly on British rather than international or English-language literature. Yet these differences fail to explain why our poll would yield more works by women — far from it.

    Divided more or less equally in terms of their gender, its critics hail from countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Denmark and India. Happily, the sheer range of work by women authors in this poll dooms most attempts at generalisation. The domestic focus and small canvas?

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    Both make for fiction that taps into universal themes such as relationships, children, the rich churn of inner lives. Could it be that aspects of womanhood — a propensity to find oneself ever the underdog, say — chime particularly resonantly with aspects of our national character, resulting in a distillation of all that readers abroad look for in an authentically British book?

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    A likelier explanation might be that so many generations of women writers have found themselves to be doubly outsiders — by virtue of both gender and creative calling — that their observations appeal to other outsiders. But perhaps most salient is the simple fact that the critics we consulted do not live here in the UK. While forceful efforts have lately been made at US publications such as the Paris Review and the New York Times Books Review to correct the gender imbalance in terms of books covered and reviewers commissioned, the likes of the London Review of Books continue to lag behind.