Living by the Pentraces the pattern of the development of women's fiction from 1696 to 1796 and offers an interpretation of its distinctive features. It focuses upon the writers rather than their works, and identifies professional novelists. Through examination of the extra-literary context, and particularly the publishing market, the book asks why and how women earned a living by the pen.Cheryl Turnerhas researched and lectured widely in the field of eighteenth-century women's writing.