Anglican Women Novelists : From Charlotte Brontë to P.D. James

"What do the novelists Charlotte Brontë, Charlotte M. Yonge, Rose Macaulay, Dorothy L. Sayers, Barbara Pym, Iris Murdoch and P.D. James all have in common? These women, and others, were inspired to write fiction through their relationship with the Church of England. This field-defining collection of essays explores Anglicanism through their fiction and their fiction through their Anglicanism. These essays, by a set of distinguished contributors, cover a range of literary genres, from life-writing and whodunnits through social comedy, children's books and supernatural fiction. Spanning writers from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, they testify both to the developments in Anglicanism over the past two centuries and the changing roles of women within the Church of England and wider society."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Cover Contents List of illustrations Contributors Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction: Why Anglican; Why Women; Why Novelists? Judith Maltby and Alison Shell 1 Charlotte Brontë (1816–55): An Anglican Imagination Sara L. Pearson 2 Charlotte Maria Tucker, ‘A.L.O.E.’ (1821–93): Anglican Evangelicalism and National Identity Nancy Jiwon Cho 3 Margaret Oliphant (1828–97): Opening Doors of Interpretation Alison Milbank 4 Charlotte M. Yonge (1823–1901): Writing for the Church Charlotte Mitchell 5 Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941): Mysticism in Fiction Ann Loades 6 Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957): God and the Detective Jessica Martin 7 Rose Macaulay (1881–1958): Anglican Apologist? Judith Maltby 8 Barbara Pym (1913–80): Anglican Anthropologies Jane Williams 9 Elizabeth Goudge (1900–84): Clergymen and Masculinity Susan D. Amussen 10 Noel Streatfeild (1895–1986): Vicarage and Other Families Clemence Schultze 11 Iris Murdoch (1919–99): Anglican Atheist Peter S. Hawkins 12 Monica Furlong (1930–2003): ‘With Love to the Church’ Peter Sherlock 13 P.D. James (1920–2014): ‘Lighten Our Darkness’ Alison Shell Afterword Francis Spufford Notes Further reading Index What do the novelists Charlotte Bronte, Charlotte M. Yonge, Rose Macaulay, Dorothy L. Sayers, Barbara Pym, Iris Murdoch and P.D. James all have in common? These women, and others, were inspired to write fiction through their relationship with the Church of England. This field-defining collection of essays explores Anglicanism through their fiction and their fiction through their Anglicanism. These essays, by a set of distinguished contributors, cover a range of literary genres, from life-writing and whodunnits through social comedy, children's books and supernatural fiction. Spanning writers from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, they testify both to the developments in Anglicanism over the past two centuries and the changing roles of women within the Church of England and wider society