Harriet Martineau

About the book

Florence Fenwick Miller follows Harriet Martineau from an emotionally difficult childhood into a career of literary work and public controversy. Family circumstances, deafness, illness, friendships, and the need to earn a living accompany the discussion of her writing. The popular treatment of political economy, American travels, opposition to slavery, and later journalism show ideas entering public life through several different forms. Miller draws on the autobiography while questioning the adequacy of previous accounts, especially for the long period of work after 1855. Letters and recollections help her construct a sympathetic but evaluative portrait rather than merely repeat her subject's own story. The biography is especially interested in the strength required for a woman to maintain independent judgment amid personal pressure and intellectual disagreement.

• Intellectual independence
• Women and public work
• Biography and evidence

Why read it

Miller connects the practical circumstances of Martineau's life with the scope and persistence of her public writing.

English text of the 1887 Roberts Brothers edition, copyright 1884