Out of the Shadows: The Life and Works of Mary De Morgan

Marilyn Pemberton dedicates this well-researched and carefully written study of Mary De Morgan, to all women everywhere past, present, and future who live in the shadows cast by others, whoever they may be. Despite having little direct evidence, Pemberton constructs a convincing picture of this plucky woman s life from a large variety of sources, many of which she reproduces in full. She supplements this material with insights drawn from careful, scholarly analyses of Mary De Morgan s literary efforts. The result is a work that not only illuminates the world of Mary De Morgan, but will also be valuable resource for historians interested in the possibilities and challenges that faced unmarried middle-class women in the late Victorian period. –Joan Richards, Professor of History, Brown University

Finally, a biography of Mary De Morgan, the mysterious writer of Victorian fairy tales! Marilyn Pemberton has enriched literary history by exploring the mystery of her life in Out of the Shadows: The Life and Works of Mary De Morgan. Indeed, she reveals that De Morgan was much more than a gifted writer, but also a social worker, teacher, editor, directress of a girls school, a notable member of the Arts and Crafts Circle, and activist in the Women s Franchise League. It is not unusual to read about a gifted woman slighted by history, and therefore, it is to Pemberton s credit that she brings De Morgan out of the shadows. Her biography is based on thorough research, and her analysis of De Morgan s feminist and political fairy tales will make a major contribution to understanding not only De Morgan but the flowering of experimental literary fairy tales at the end of the nineteenth century. –Jack Zipes, Professor Emeritus of German, Scandinavian and Dutch, University of Minnesota

Marilyn Pemberton dedicates this well-researched and carefully written study of Mary De Morgan, to all women everywhere past, present, and future who live in the shadows cast by others, whoever they may be. Despite having little direct evidence, Pemberton constructs a convincing picture of this plucky woman s life from a large variety of sources, many of which she reproduces in full. She supplements this material with insights drawn from careful, scholarly analyses of Mary De Morgan s literary efforts. The result is a work that not only illuminates the world of Mary De Morgan, but will also be valuable resource for historians interested in the possibilities and challenges that faced unmarried middle-class women in the late Victorian period. –Joan Richards, Professor of History, Brown University

Finally, a biography of Mary De Morgan, the mysterious writer of Victorian fairy tales! Marilyn Pemberton has enriched literary history by exploring the mystery of her life in Out of the Shadows: The Life and Works of Mary De Morgan. Indeed, she reveals that De Morgan was much more than a gifted writer, but also a social worker, teacher, editor, directress of a girls school, a notable member of the Arts and Crafts Circle, and activist in the Women s Franchise League. It is not unusual to read about a gifted woman slighted by history, and therefore, it is to Pemberton s credit that she brings De Morgan out of the shadows. Her biography is based on thorough research, and her analysis of De Morgan s feminist and political fairy tales will make a major contribution to understanding not only De Morgan but the flowering of experimental literary fairy tales at the end of the nineteenth century. –Jack Zipes, Professor Emeritus of German, Scandinavian and Dutch, University of Minnesota