Eliza Fenwick: 2 books

Fans of Jane Austen's work will love this gripping novel from Eliza Fenwick, an early feminist thinker who was friends with Mary Shelley and several other important writers of the era. Secresy follows the unusual friendship between Caroline Ashburn and Sibella Valmont, both of whom have been negatively impacted by the constraints society places on women.

Part of a series for younger readers called The Dumpy Books, this collection of short stories offers a fascinating glimpse into the manners and mores of children and families at the dawn of the twentieth century. Fans of mock-didactic fiction such as Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events will feel right at home.