Based on a lecture given at Girton College, Cambridge, this title is one of the feminist polemics, ranging in its themes from Jane Austen and Carlotte Bronte, and the effects of poverty and sexual constraint on female creativity. It justifies the need for women to possess intellectual freedom and financial independence.

'Brilliant interweaving of personal experience, imaginative musing and political clarity' Kate MosseThis volume combines two books which were among the greatest contributions to feminist literature this century.