A History of the Novel in Britain

The story of the novel in Britain is a good story. It begins in the eighteenth century, when people began to read in ever greater numbers, seeking words that helped explain their hopes and desires. A new kind of literature was needed for this growing market of readers, one that reflected as many different lives in its pages as there were people to buy them, that could change with the times and do something new—something novel.

In this illuminating new history of both an art and an ind…