The Cambridge Companion To The Twentieth Century English Novel

The twentieth-century English novel encompasses a vast body of work, and one of the most important and most widely read genres of literature. Balancing close readings of particular novels with a comprehensive survey of the last century of published fiction, this Companion introduces readers to more than a hundred major and minor novelists. It demonstrates continuities in novel-writing that bridge the century's pre- and post-War halves and presents leading critical ideas about English fiction's themes and forms. The essays examine the endurance of modernist style throughout the century, the role of nationality and the contested role of the English language in all its forms, and the relationships between realism and other fictional modes: fantasy, romance, science fiction. Students, scholars and readers will find this Companion an indispensable guide to the history of the English novel.

'Because of the number the essays are necessarily shorter, but this ... is more than compensated by the breadth of topics discussed.' Contemporary Review.

'This Companion is an excellent and affordable ... introduction to the history of the twentieth-century novel for undergraduates and the interested general reader, and as such should be added to humanities collections.' Reference Reviews.