George Gissing 
Odd Women 

One of the acknowledged masterpieces of Victorian-era literary realism, George Gissing’s novel The Odd Women portrays the plight of unmarried women in nineteenth-century England, probing the question of the financial and psychological well-being of those who were not able to find suitable matches. Recognized by critics as an early feminist text, this novel is a must-read for fans of historical — and socially significant — fiction.