Ann Veronica: A Modern Romance (Broadview Editions)

"A fitting representation of Wells's series of social romances, in this new edition Ann Veronica assumes enhanced value as an examination of the 'Woman Question' at the turn of the twentieth century. Carey Snyder's fine introduction and her selection of texts for the appendices encourage readers to join in the sort of debate that Wells strove to inspire in his fiction. Notably Snyder appreciates the lifelong accomplishments of Amber Reeves, whose youthful affair with Wells was the inspiration for the lively central character. There are also some well-selected primary texts recording the views of Wells on his own work, the arguments of would-be censors, the Fabians, the suffrage movement, modernist reviewers, and Beatrice Hastings of The New Age." -- Bonnie Kime Scott, Professor Emerita, San Diego State University and the University of Delaware "Carey Snyder has produced a splendid new edition of H.G. Wells's under-read take on the social and literary phenomenon of the New Woman. The novel itself, like most of Wells's work, is a great read, and Snyder supplies a first-rate introduction that locates Ann Veronica in its moment--the woman's suffrage movement, debates about marriage, chastity, sexual candor, and socialism--as well a rich selection of appendices reproducing a wide range of contextual documents, from John Ruskin on separate spheres for men and women to selections of letters to Wells from Amber Reeves, one of the historical/autobiographical models for his eponymous heroine. By situating Ann Veronica so deftly in its own moment, Snyder lets it speak to ours." -- Mark Wollaeger, Vanderbilt University

H.G. Wells's 1909 novel centres on the coming of age of the spirited Ann Veronica, who runs away from her sheltered suburban home to live in London. There she mingles with feminists, studies biology, learns jiu jitsu, and even participates in a suffragette raid on the House of Commons that lands her in jail. When originally published, the novel was deemed "poisonous" for its bold treatment of an adulterous romance that only lightly veiled Wells's extramarital affairs. While critics debate whether the shift to romance undermines the novel's feminist themes, readers continue to be engaged by its vividly realized heroine and its rich portrayal of the tumultuous social movements of Edwardian London. Historical documents expand on the novel's autobiographical dimension with letters between Wells and Amber Reeves, the model for Ann Veronica; also included are materials on the suffrage movement, attempts to censor the novel, and the New Woman.