A large encyclopedic study of fifteen conventions of Victorian fiction–including women, marriage, coincidence, the orphan, memory, the occult. The most striking quality of the book is its wide-ranging grasp of all kinds of Victorian materials, for although its announced intention is to treat the conventions of fiction, it makes use of supporting evidence in letters, memoirs, periodicals, illustrations, and other belles lettres…This is an immensely learned, ambitious, and intelligently written book that will probably become a standard and should be in every library. –Choice