To be honest before 2010 I thought H. G. Wells was "only" a science fiction writer. I don't mean "only" as something inferior (I love science fiction), only that I did not know he had written also other kinds of books. I knew Wells as the author of The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds and The Island of Dr. Moreau. I had seen the movie The Time Machine and had -and still have- every intention of reading the book one of these days. I also thought that The Island of Dr. Moreau was definitely not for me. Then, while browsing some non-fiction book, name of which has escaped me, I saw mentioned this women's rights novel by Wells called Ann Veronica! I was intrigued and as my library had a copy I immediately borrowed the book. At that time I had some other books I had to read first and in the end Ann Veronica was returned unread. Some time later I saw this fabulous Orion Books edition of Ann Veronica at the book store and simply had to buy it. Isn't that dust jacket gorgeous?
I have since learned that Wells was a prolific writer. Yes, many of his novels were what back then were called scientific romances, but he also wrote contemporary novels and non fiction. He is also considered the inventor of the first recreational wargame! Reading Margaret Atwood's essay on The Island of Dr. Moreau I was already converted into wanting to read that book, now I'm very interested in reading more contemporary novels by Wells and also some of his less known scientific romances.
Herbert George Wells was born in 1866 into a lower middle class family. He tried a few things before finally getting into teaching. His personal life was rather unorthodox. He divorced his first wife after falling in love with one of his students Amy Catherine Robbins, whom he then married. Later he started an affair with Amber Reeves, who bore him a child. Wells and his second wife seem to have had an agreement that he could have extra marital affairs. Among his mistresses was writer Elizabeth Von Arnim. In 1912 feminist writer Rebecca West had reviewed Marriage, one of Wells' novels, for Freewoman. The review was not too favorable. West called Wells "the Old Maid among novelists" and mentioned that "even the sex mania on Ann Veronica...was merely Old Maids' mania". Wells responded by asking West to lunch. An affair ensued and in 1914 West bore Wells' a son. Learn more about Wells here, here and here.
Ann Veronica tells the story of a young woman, Ann Veronica Stanley, one of the "New Women" of the early 20th century. Outraged by her father's overprotective behavior towards her, she decides she cannot stay under his roof any longer and escapes to London. Ann Veronica goes to London full of determination, but at that point she is still very innocent and ignorant of many facts of life. In London she has to face a number of tribulations and go through lots of self-reflection before she is ready to return to her parental home. At this point I thought, oh no, this is going to be one of those moral tales where the heroine returns chastised and meekly accepts her destiny as a someone to be married to the highest bidder. I'm happy to tell I was completely wrong! Ann Veronica returns on her own terms and is able to continue her studies. She studies biology in an institution very much like the school were Wells himself studied in the 1880s and she falls in love. And like Wells' Ann Veronica's love story is not a typical one.
Ann Veronica, subtitled by Wells "a modern love story" was published in 1909. Its publication created a storm. Wells' usual publishers feared a scandal and declined to publish it. Another publisher, Unwin's, did publish the book and made good money of it, but the book did cause a scandal. Some of the reform groups (Fabians, suffragettes) did not like how they were depicted in the novel and parts of the plot outraged so called respectable people.
I enjoyed reading Ann Veronica. Keeping in mind that it was first published in 1909 the story felt amazingly modern -and, luckily, also partly old fashioned. We women have come a long way since the beginning of the 20th century! I'm not sure whether I would call Ann Veronica exactly a feminist novel. If anything, the heroine of the novel end up beling rather critical about suffragettes, but it is a novel about the rights of women, the lack of them and finding ways to broaden them. If you like to read stories about strong, independent women or unconventional stories set in the beginning of the 20th century, I strongly suggest adding Ann Veronica into your TBR list.
I read Ann Veronica for Room Beam Reader's TBR Pile Challenge.
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