Communities of Women: An Idea in Fiction

In this classic work of feminist and literary criticism, Auerbach explores how the fellowship of sisterhood as it occurs or hails to occur in historical reality is reflected in famous novels such as those of Louisa May Alcott(Little Women), Charlotte Bronte(Villette), Henry James (The Bostonians), Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice) and Muriel Spark (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie). This is a fascinating study of the complex attitudes of communities of women which are distinct from the long honored traditions of the banding of "brothers." "However prized friendship has been in our philosophical tradition...it has been viewed...as the exclusive privilege of men... Communities of Women: An Idea In Fiction is the first book I know of that ventures into the domain of the novel to explore this particular inequity..." Francine du Plessix Gray The New York Times Book Review