The Cambridge Companion to Frances Burney

Frances Burney (1752–1840) was the most successful female novelist of the eighteenth century. Her first novel Evelina was a publishing sensation; her follow-up novels Cecilia and Camilla were regarded as among the best fiction of the time and were much admired by Jane Austen. Burney's life was equally remarkable: a protegee of Samuel Johnson, lady-in-waiting at the court of George III, later wife of an emigre aristocrat and stranded in France during the Napoleonic Wars, she lived on into the reign of Queen Victoria. Her journals and letters are now widely read as a rich source of information about the Court, social conditions and cultural changes over her long lifetime. This Companion is the first volume to cover all her works, including her novels, plays, journals and letters, in a comprehensive and accessible way. It also includes discussion of her critical reputation, and a guide to further reading.

Frances Burney (1752–1840) was the most successful female novelist of the eighteenth century. Her first novel Evelina was a publishing sensation; her follow-up novels Cecilia and Camilla were regarded as among the best fiction of the time and were much admired by Jane Austen. Burney's life was equally remarkable: a protegee of Samuel Johnson, lady-in-waiting at the court of George III, later wife of an emigre aristocrat and stranded in France during the Napoleonic Wars, she lived on into the reign of Queen Victoria. Her journals and letters are now widely read as a rich source of information about the Court, social conditions and cultural changes over her long lifetime. This Companion is the first volume to cover all her works, including her novels, plays, journals and letters, in a comprehensive and accessible way. It also includes discussion of her critical reputation, and a guide to further reading.

Chronology; Introduction Peter Sabor; 1. The Burney family Kate Chisholm; 2. Evelina and Cecilia Jane Spencer; 3. Camilla and The Wanderer Sara Salih; 4. Burney as dramatist Tara Ghoshal Wallace; 5. Journals and letters John Wiltshire; 6. Burney and politics Margaret Anne Doody; 7. Burney and gender Vivien Jones; 8. Burney and society Betty Rizzo; 9. Burney and the literary marketplace George Justice; 10. The afterlife and further reading Lorna Clark.

Frances Burney (1752-1840) was the most successful female novelist of the eighteenth century. This Companion is the first volume to cover all her works in a comprehensive and accessible way. It also includes discussion of her critical reputation, and a guide to further reading.

Peter Sabor is Canada Research Chair in Eighteenth-Century Studies at McGill University.