Hoberman's collection of 13 essays investigates the work of 6 female authors (Mitchison, Butts, Riding, Bentley, Bryher, and Renault) who wrote at the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century in England. Chapters 1, 2, 8, and 13 are very general as they look at the nature of education and gender roles in England during the lifetimes of these six authors. At times her analysis of how the real lives of authors are reflected in their work seems stretched to the limit -- but this could be claimed in most literary analysis. As a writer, I can say that yes, our lives affect our work, but how it affects it can only be truly understood by talking to the author herself and there is no evidence that Hoberman has done this. She uncovers a good number of books which I did not know exist and so I'm off to find a few of them.