Based on prodigious research into German-language novels yet written to be accessible to all interested in the history of literature, Dr Daley’s new book offers a critical interpretation of six novels by women around 1800, which it removes from the label of Trivial Literature and calls instead the “Age of Emotion.” The novels depict women’s ordinary yet fascinating lives. The six are chosen because they are particularly expressive of emotion, whether portraying youthfulness or maturity, whether speaking from empathy or irony, and whether the discourse is philosophical, personal, historical, or sensual. This study concludes that the influence of these six works was in no way trivial, either in portraying women’s lives and emotions or in the history of German literature.
