Evelina introduction Austin Dobson & Hugh Thomsons 81

Frances Burney was born at Kings Lynn, Norfolk, on 17th June 1752, the third of Charles and Elspeth Burneys six children. A precocious child, at 10 years old Frances was already showing a talent for scribbling (as she called her writing). Her father encouraged her work as a hobby, but set his face against any publication of her work, calling it "unladylike". Burney acquiesced, and destroyed her first novel, but with maturity her confidence grew and (albeit it anonymously) she eventually published her novel Evelina in 1778, to widespread critical acclaim, with such literary luminaries as Dr. Johnson, David Garrick and Edmund Burke praising her wit and biting satire. Such was the demand for Evelina, it very quickly went through four editions, and has remained popular ever since. A multilayered novel of manners, Burney uses the eponymous heroines honesty, innocence, and bucolic worldview as a mirror in which to reveal the shallow, jejune world of Londons upper classes, through which Evelina navigates an uneven passage to maturity and romance. The work is by turns an elegant plea against female repression, a satirical expose of Londons 18th century elite, a valuable sociological record of etiquette and social mores, and a heartwarming tale of true love. | Frances Burney Evelina: with introduction by Austin Dobson, & Hugh Thomson's 81