''Anna Lombard'' is a New Woman novel by

Annie Sophie Cory Annie Sophie Cory (1 October 1868 – 2 August 1952)Ancestry Library Edition was a British author of popular, racy, exotic New Woman novels under the pseudonyms Victoria Cross(e), Vivian Cory and V.C. Griffin. Life Annie Sophie Cory was the yo ...

writing as Victoria Cross. First published in 1901, it is based on the idea that it takes a New Man as well to form a perfect union of the sexes.

Literary significance and criticism

In the

Preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literature, literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface o ...

to her novel, Victoria Cross claims that she "endeavoured to draw in Gerald Ethridge a character whose actions should be in accordance with the principles laid down by

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

, one that would display, not in words but in his actual life, that gentleness,

humility Humility is the quality of being humble. The Oxford Dictionary, in its 1998 edition, describes humility as a low self-regard and sense of unworthiness. However, humility involves having an accurate opinion of oneself and expressing oneself mode ...

patience or forbearance, is the ability to endure difficult or undesired long-term circumstances. Patience involves perseverance or tolerance in the face of delay, provocation, or stress without responding negatively, such as reacting with disrespect ...

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

, and self-sacrifice that our Redeemer himself enjoined. ..Fearlessly, and with the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

of Christ in my hand, I offer this example of his teaching to the great Christian public for its verdict, confident that I shall be justified by it." ''Anna Lombard'' ultimately sold more than six million copies and went through more than 40 editions. It received favourable ( William Thomas Stead, who praised the idea of

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

role reversal) and less favourable reviews; the authors of the latter group, which included Christian critics, dismissed the novel as a piece of transgressional fiction violating law—advocating or at least justifying

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of re ...

—, convention, and contemporary sensibility by constructing an image of British female sexuality that had rarely been conceived in any detail outside of pornographic texts, for example the notion that a sexually experienced woman is an asset to a marriage. As such a

sensation novel The sensation novel, also sensation fiction, was a literary genre of fiction that achieved peak popularity in Great Britain in between the early 1860s and mid to late 1890s,I. Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (1995) p. 8 ...

, ''Anna Lombard'' is mentioned in

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer and critic who was an important figure in the Literary modernism, modernist movement. Her works are celebrated across the world and have been ...

's 1908 short story, "The Tiredness of Rosabel,"
/sup> where a young working-class woman reading a "cheap, paper-covered edition" on the bus is completely absorbed in the book.

References

* Melisa Brittain
"Dangerous Crossings: Victorian Feminism, Imperialist Discourse, and Victoria Cross's 'New Woman' in Indigenous Space"
M.A. thesis (

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

, 1999), particularly Chapter 3: "The 'Fall' and 'Rise' of the Transgressive New Woman: Representing the Unrepresentable in ''Anna Lombard''". * William L. Alden
"London Literary Letter"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' (June 1, 1901) BR15. (Comparing the novel to Zola's '' La Terre'', Alden calls ''Anna Lombard'' "a nauseating book ..which no man should read immediately before dinner unless he wishes to lose his appetite.") * W .T. Stead: "Anna Lombard: A Novel of the Ethics of Sex", '' Review of Reviews'' No. 23 (1901) 595–597.

External links

''Anna Lombard'' online
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

A recent blog about Anna Lombard
discussing plot, author and context. {{New Woman (late 19th century) 1901 British novels Novels set in India Novels set in Myanmar