Diana of the Crossways

By George Meredith

Book Overview

"Diana of the Crossways" by George Meredith plunges into the heart of 19th-century England, where scandal and romance intertwine in a captivating historical fiction. Meredith masterfully explores themes of reputation and societal constraints within a world of privilege and power.

This meticulously prepared edition presents the complete and unabridged text of a literary classic centered on the dramatic consequences of scandal. Set against a backdrop of intricate social dynamics, "Diana of the Crossways" offers a compelling glimpse into a bygone era. Readers interested in historical romance and the enduring power of literary fiction will be drawn to this timeless tale of love, betrayal, and the challenges faced by individuals navigating the complexities of their time.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1022950037
• ISBN13: 9781022950030
• Release Date: March 2025
• Publisher: Anson Street Press
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Diana of the Crossways

When George Meredith published Diana of the Crossways in 1855 he had a huge hit on his hands, partly because he chose a notorious woman for his heroine - novelist, poet, and essayist Caroline Norton (1808-77), granddaughter of Irish playwright Richard Brimsley Sheridan. At nineteen she married an awful man, George Norton, who beat her, but she gave birth to three sons during this unfortunate alliance. Seemingly with the approval of her husband, beautiful and witty Caroline, a major flirt, then took up with influential politician Lord Melbourne. (Melbourne, soon to be Prime Minister, liked literary women; he had been married to Lady Caroline Lamb, the Lord Byron intimate who famously deemed the poet "mad, bad, and dangerous to know.") But Caroline's husband sued Melbourne for "criminal conversation" in 1836 - and lost - and Dickens fictionalized the very public trial in The Pickwick Papers. Caroline left Norton, and published several influencial pamphlets after discovering women were not permitted to file for divorce or seek custody of their children. A second scandal cemented Caroline's reputation as a bad girl. While involved with Secretary of War Sidney Herbert, she was suspected of tipping off The Times (perhaps for money) that the 1846 Corn Laws were about to be repealed. Herbert stopped seeing her, and she kept a somewhat lower profile after that. George Meredith has met Caroline a few times, and freely admitted to stealing the details of her life to create the immensely likable Diana. (He says he made her smarter, though.) After the novel's success dredged up colorful stories once more, Caroline's family forced him to add a disclaimer: "The story of Diana of the Crossways is to be read as fiction." But while several biographies of Caroline Norton exist, it is only in Meredith's novel that this early feminist hero comes fully alive. --- from book's back cover