This volume discusses the lives and writings of five nonconformist women who comprised the heart of a vibrant literary circle in England between 1760 and 1840. Whelan shows these women's keen awareness and often radical viewpoints on contemporary issues connected to politics, religion, gender, and the Romantic sensibility.

Timothy Whelan is Professor in the English Department at Georgia Southern University.

Preface 1. A Nonconformist Women's Literary Tradition 2. Mary Steele (1753-1813) and a West Country Tradition of Dissenting Women's Poetry 3. Mary Steele as the 'Rustic Maid' 4. Mary Scott (1751-1793) 5. Jane Attwater (1753-1843) 6. Elizabeth Coltman (1761-1838)