This provocative, lively book discusses two of the most significant influences on writing and thinking in the twentieth century: women novelists and feminist theory. It demonstrates, in an accessible but imaginative manner, ways of reading women's novels alongside work by feminist theorists. Each chapter situates a small number of theoretical texts in their intellectual context and then links them with a widely taught novel to produce fresh interpretations. The novels and theorists represent examples of extremely significant, but also pedagogically useful feminist writing this century.