A secret sisterhood : the hidden friendships of Austen, Brontë, Eliot and Woolf

A Secret Sisterhood uncovers the hidden literary friendships of the world's most respected female authors. Drawing on letters and diaries, some of which have never been published before, this book will reveal Jane Austen's bond with a family servant, the amateur playwright Anne Sharp; how Charlotte Brontë was inspired by the daring feminist Mary Taylor; the transatlantic relationship between George Eliot and the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin , Harriet Beecher Stowe; and the underlying erotic charge that lit the friendship of Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield – a pair too often dismissed as bitter foes. In their first book together, Midorikawa and Sweeney resurrect these literary collaborations, which were sometimes illicit, scandalous and volatile; sometimes supportive, radical or inspiring; but always, until now, tantalisingly consigned to the shadows. A Secret Sisterhood Looks At The Friendships Between Jane Austen And One Of The Family Servants, Playwright Anne Sharp; The Daring Feminist Author Mary Taylor Who Shaped The Work Of Charlotte Bronte; The Seemingly Aloof George Eliot And The Author Of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe; And Virginia Woolf And Katherine Mansfield, Most Often Portrayed As Bitter Foes, But Who In Fact Enjoyed A Complex Friendship Fired By An Underlying Erotic Charge Through Letters And Diaries Which Have Never Been Published Before, The Book Will Resurrect These Hitherto Forgotten Stories Of Female Friendships That Were Sometimes Illicit, Scandalous And Volatile; Sometimes Supportive, Radical Or Inspiring; But Always, Until Now, Tantalisingly Consigned To The Shadows. A Fascinating, Inspirational Look At The Relationships Between Some Of Our Best-loved Female Authors And Their Little-known Literary Collaborators And Friends. Emily Midorikawa And Emma Claire Sweeney. Record Machine-generated From Publisher Information. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 275-278) And Index. Emily Midorikawa Lectures At City University And At New York University's London Campus. Her Memoir The Memory Album Appeared In Tangled Roots, A Sponsored Collection That Celebrates The Stories Of Mixed-race Families. Emily Is The Winner Of The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize 2015, And Was Longlisted For The Mslexia Novel Competition. She Was A Runner-up In The Si Leeds Literary Prize, Judged By Margaret Busby, And The Yeovil Literary Prize, Judged By Tracy Chevalier. She Writes For Newspapers And Magazines. Her Debut Novel Owl Song At Dawn Was Published In 2016 To Great Acclaim. A Secret Sisterhood uncovers the hidden literary friendships of the world's most respected female authors - Jane Austen and one of the family servants, playwright Anne Sharp; the daring feminist author Mary Taylor who shaped the work of Charlotte Brontë; the seemingly aloof George Eliot and the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe; and Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield, most often portrayed as bitter foes, but who in fact enjoyed a complex friendship fired by an underlying erotic charge