Although I began my career as a modernist, specializing in the work of Virginia Woolf, I have been concentrating on Victorian literature and culture for the last twenty years. I'm especially interested in the novel and its relationship to other kinds of narratives such as journalism, professional discourses, and conduct books, since I see story-telling as an important way in which cultural values are articulated, challenged, and re-made. I study both canonical fiction and popular culture as they participate in this process. The subjects that interest me most are gender, sexuality, and social class, and I retain a special investment in women writers from my days as a Woolf critic. My current book project examines the political implications of Victorian penny novels, strange and sensational tales written for and sometimes by members of the working classes.
Areas of Specialty:
- Victorian Literature and Culture
- Victorian popular fiction and social class
- Gender and Sexuality
