Women writers’ books reissued - now under their actual names
Novels written by women using male pen names have been reissued using the authors’ actual names.
The collection includes George Eliot’s Middlemarch, which has been reissued under the author’s real name, Mary Ann Evans, for the first time.
The 25 titles have been released to mark the 25th anniversary of the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
The Reclaim Her Name library features newly commissioned cover artwork from female designers.
Other titles in the collection include A Phantom Lover, a gothic horror novel Violet Paget published under the pen name Vernon Lee.
Also featured is Indiana by George Sand, the male pseudonym used by the 19th Century French novelist Amantine Aurore Dupin.
George Eliot portrait by
François D’Albert Durade
Founder director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Kate Mosse, said it was “a lovely way to celebrate” the award’s 25th anniversary.
She said the initiative would continue a process of “empowering women, igniting conversations and ensuring they get the recognition they deserve”.
Liz Petry, whose mother Anne’s book Marie of the Cabin Club is featured in the collection, said she was “honoured” to have been approached.
“I’m incredibly proud of my mother’s work and it excites me that her writing has been introduced to a new audience,” she continued.
The full collection can be downloaded as free e-books from the website of Baileys, the Women’s Prize for Fiction’s sponsor.
Physical box sets will also be donated to selected libraries across the country.
The Women’s Prize for Fiction is in its 25th year. It is regarded as the UK’s most prestigious annual book award celebrating and honouring fiction written by women.
It was set up to celebrate originality, accessibility and excellence in writing by women and to connect world-class writers with readers everywhere.
The shortlist for this year is: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell; Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo .It was joint winner of the 2019 Booker Prize; A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes; Dominicana by Angie Cruz; Bright; The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel and Weather by Jenny Offill.A Thousand Ship.
The winner will be announced on September 9.