Leaving the secluded home of her guardian for the first time, beautiful Evelina Anville is captivated by her new surroundings in London's beau monde--and in particular by the handsome, chivalrous Lord Orville. But her enjoyment soon turns to mortification at the hands of her vulgar and capricious grandmother, and the rakish Sir Clement Willoughby, who torments the naive young woman with his unwanted advances. And while her aristocratic father refuses to acknowledge her legitimacy, Evelina can hold no hope of happiness with the man she loves.

Published anonymously in 1778, Frances Burney's...

A novel that explores the causes and consequences of a power, disguise, subterfuge and performance, Evelina traces a young woman's growth into womanhood.

A Busy Day is a love story, as well as a witty and wonderfully observed satire on class and greed by the most popular woman writer of her time. The scene is London in the summer of 1800. In the course of just one busy day, we are gleefully tumbled into a world of frustrated love, mistaken identity, snobbery, and downright vulgar bad manners.

This edition contains two of Frances Burney's comedies: "The Witlings," (1778-80) which satirizes the bluestockings; and "The Woman Hater" (1800-02), which explores social pretension and gender conflict.

Born into a musical family as the daughter of Charles Burney, Frances 'Fanny' Burney (1752 1840) opted for a life of letters. Her epistolary novel Evelina generated both sensation and sales upon its appearance early in 1778, and when her identity as the author was soon revealed, it opened the door to intellectual circles frequented by the likes of Samuel Johnson and fellow diarist Hester Thrale. Appearing under her married name of Madame d'Arblay, her witty and candid journals and correspondence, from her breakthrough until her final years, were edited by her niece Charlotte Barrett (1786...

Born into a musical family as the daughter of Charles Burney, Frances 'Fanny' Burney (1752 1840) opted for a life of letters. Her epistolary novel Evelina generated both sensation and sales upon its appearance early in 1778, and when her identity as the author was soon revealed, it opened the door to intellectual circles frequented by the likes of Samuel Johnson and fellow diarist Hester Thrale. Appearing under her married name of Madame d'Arblay, her witty and candid journals and correspondence, from her breakthrough until her final years, were edited by her niece Charlotte Barrett (1786...

Born into a musical family as the daughter of Charles Burney, Frances 'Fanny' Burney (1752 1840) opted for a life of letters. Her epistolary novel Evelina generated both sensation and sales upon its appearance early in 1778, and when her identity as the author was soon revealed, it opened the door to intellectual circles frequented by the likes of Samuel Johnson and fellow diarist Hester Thrale. Appearing under her married name of Madame d'Arblay, her witty and candid journals and correspondence, from her breakthrough until her final years, were edited by her niece Charlotte Barrett (1786...

Born into a musical family as the daughter of Charles Burney, Frances 'Fanny' Burney (1752 1840) opted for a life of letters. Her epistolary novel Evelina generated both sensation and sales upon its appearance early in 1778, and when her identity as the author was soon revealed, it opened the door to intellectual circles frequented by the likes of Samuel Johnson and fellow diarist Hester Thrale. Appearing under her married name of Madame d'Arblay, her witty and candid journals and correspondence, from her breakthrough until her final years, were edited by her niece Charlotte Barrett (1786...

Born into a musical family as the daughter of Charles Burney, Frances 'Fanny' Burney (1752 1840) opted for a life of letters. Her epistolary novel Evelina generated both sensation and sales upon its appearance early in 1778, and when her identity as the author was soon revealed, it opened the door to intellectual circles frequented by the likes of Samuel Johnson and fellow diarist Hester Thrale. Appearing under her married name of Madame d'Arblay, her witty and candid journals and correspondence, from her breakthrough until her final years, were edited by her niece Charlotte Barrett (1786...

Born into a musical family as the daughter of Charles Burney, Frances 'Fanny' Burney (1752 1840) opted for a life of letters. Her epistolary novel Evelina generated both sensation and sales upon its appearance early in 1778, and when her identity as the author was soon revealed, it opened the door to intellectual circles frequented by the likes of Samuel Johnson and fellow diarist Hester Thrale. Appearing under her married name of Madame d'Arblay, her witty and candid journals and correspondence, from her breakthrough until her final years, were edited by her niece Charlotte Barrett (1786...