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Women's Fiction and the Great War by Suzanne Raitt; Trudi TateReview by: Nicola BradburyThe Review of English Studies, New Series, Vol. 49, No. 196 (Nov., 1998), pp. 538-539Published by: Oxford University Press

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538 REVIEWS

aboutConrad's exts,ertainlyulfilshemoremodestequirementf onveyingomethingofthedifficultiesndpleasuresfreading onrad.

JOHNLYON UniversityfBristol

SUZANNEAITT ndTRUDITATE edd.).Women's iction nd theGreatWar.Pp.vi+294. xford: larendonress, 997. loth,40;paper,14-99.'It sno ongerrue o laimhat omen'sesponseso hewar ave eengnored'p.2)

say he ditorsfthis olumen a clearndchallengingntroduction.ot gnored,utsubtlyrperhapsven latantlyonscripted;akenp nsupportf givendeologicalposition:ngenderefinitionrconstruction,rperhapsnculturalalues.Womenspacifists,ating asculineiolence;omensworshippersndhealers,ontentomourn

casualtiesnd are orurvivors.hose wo erspectivesre todds,nd uzanneaittndTrudi ate howcrupulouslyoth y heirompilationf ssaysnd heirommentshatthese ositionsay emultiplied;otoomay he iverseiteraryorms,venwithinhecategoryf women'siction',hroughhichheGreatWar,war tself,s addressed.Difference,ot efinition,sthewatchwordere. onsideringritersromhe dwardianstomodernistsnd nti-modernists,ndtextsangingromomanceoJournal,ropa-ganda,etters,hort ictionsndnovels,ome f them irtuallynknownndothersdeceptivelyamiliar,hesessaysemandndividual,recisettentionnd he eadinessoshiftssumptions.andra ilbert'sonstructionf heGreatWar sa war f he exessnotettisoned,ut ostled ydisplacementf he rthodoxyf he ominancefgender

concerns.ecognizingnsteadow heGreatWaronlyntensifiedhe ressurenwomento nhabitcultural,ocial,nd exual aradox'p.5)allowshis olumeoproposeheir

problematics amodelor nother:emblematicf society'selationohistoricalrocess'(p.6).

Helen mall,n MrsHumphryardnd he irst asualtyfWar',chievessensefthis artlyhroughivelyllustrations:aryWard osed orhe hotographern tripothe ront;he ensorilifiedsacaricaturef he unby cartoonistttackingropaganda.WhileorWardwritingas n ct fwar't arriednethicalost,ndHelenmallhows

delicatelyow he ense fthis anberegisteredestheticallynscrupulositiesf tyle:' Sheknewt, ndwasnot nconsciousf certain oralefeat;ssheookedut ponll

the trenuousnd plendidhingshatwomen ere oingnthewar. hat lightemi-colonarries orehantsusualweight'p.36).Thewillingnesso confrontnpalatablettitudesnd mperfectexts s a valuable

characteristicfthis olume. aryConde indshat dithWhartonhasproducedn

extraordinary,houghlawed,ocumentf truggle,eception,ndoss'p.63) nA Son tthe ront,sking howill ay he ost fwar. ane otteretswomen'somancesgainstmemoirsnconsideringow omewriterspresentedo thepublic clear-sightednddeterminedision, uch-neededrdesired'p.105).Claire uck akes nthe roblemf

Radclyffeall's dentificationfhermasculinityithatrioticalues,ncapablef view

largerhan ationalism.ary amer eadsMary utts,espiteindingerthehardest

figureorecruitor ny ause',because erwritingscannote dismissed'p. 219).Elizabeth regoryncorporatesertrudetein mongstandidatesor hisvolume,althoughForthemost art,heprotestsy lidinghe videncefviolencerounder,refusingohonourtwithmention,ndfocusingnpleasurenstead'p.280).

Suzanneaitt'swn ssaynMay inclair'sarournalstretcheshat emightxpectfromuch volume.inclair as 1when ar rokeut,ndherournalsrevealnpainfuland wkwardetailhe hamef middle-agedoman ho ees n middlegeherast

TheReviewfEnglishtudies, ewSeries, ol.49,No. 196 1998) 0 Oxford niversityress 998

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REVIEWS 539

chance t ife'p. 65).This sa newperspectiven the ulturalonstructionffemininityta time fboth ulturalndpersonalrisis,ccentuatedythe ompetitionfsuperfluitywith oss.A defiantlyunsexy' ubject, raced ndesperatelyassionateerms.Feminine

agency's curiouslyuaranteedy awkwardride'.Gillian eerbringsextualcholarshipswell s cultural istoryobear n Vernon ee'sSatan theWaster, hosemultipleubject ositionings mirroredythecomplexitiesf

manuscript,evisions, otes, ndeditions. hange, ot tability,aysBeer,matterso Lee

throughouter areer,ndprovides key ounderstandinghis roblematicext, ut lsoto nterpretingts mportances an attackn the herd'mentalityhich ouldpermithe

prosecutionf the war. VirginiaWoolf, ccording o TracyHargreaves,ound he

'preposterous asculine iction'p. 134)of the waroutrageousut difficulto confront.War s an unstableategoryn herwritings,nd eems lmostlided rom othe ighthouse;butHargreavesisinterstsghostlyresencerom hemiddleection,TimePasses'.Using

Woolf'sholograph,he discovershe risis or he rtistf the mperativeo ncludewhatresists epresentation.Natalie londel urnsoa neglected riter,rances ellerby,or notherpproacho the

sameproblem.People ivedouble ives' nBellerby's ork, aught mong he iving ut

'dwellingn memoriesf the dead' (p. 151). ntriguingly,hisdouble xposures traced

throughhe tylisticevices fa worldwherethe strangementf thebereaved romheworld fthe ivings imaged hroughheir strangementromanguagetself'p. 160).

Katherine ansfield'sechniquesfrepresentation,s ConCoroneoshows,nclude heaestheticfdisgust,ontaininghehorrorsfwar, ndcorrespondinglycting s a 'self-inoculation'gainstnotherhreat.Mansfield'sllness ivesher kind fguiltlesslarity.

Conversely,D sufferedmiscarriagehichheattributedo the hock fwarnews, ndTrudiTatetraces he xplorationfwar raumahroughouterwork, hich issolveshe

apparentdistinctionetween ctiveservice nd civilian xperience,nd showsthedevastationf a culturalneurosis hatknowsno boundaries. ransgression,s thisvolume emonstrates,aybe liberating,ut t can alsobring estruction.

NICOLA RADBURYniversityfReading

VIRGINIAWOOLF. Mrs Dalloway. EditedbyMORRISBEJA.Pp. xxxvi+200The

ShakespeareeadPress ditionfVirginia oolf). xford:lackwell,996. 50.VIRGINIA OOLF.TheVoyageOut. Edited y . RUTHMILLER nd AWRENCEILLER.

Pp.xl+408The ShakespeareeadPress ditionfVirginia oolf). xford:Blackwell,995. 50.

With ightnd ay,Tothe ighthouse,heWaves,ndRogerrylreadynprint,hesetwo atestdditionsothe hakespeare ead Press ditionfVirginiaWoolfmark project

half-completed.The purpose f... theEdition',t s statedn theprefaceo eachvolume,'istopresenteliableexts,ompleteith lternateeadingsnd xplanatoryotes,f llthebooks Woolf]herselfublished r intendedopublish, ot usthernovels' p. iii).

Suchan enterprises bothtimelyndvaluable, uton theevidence f thetwovolumesunder eview,ditorialtandards illneed tobe raisedn theforthcomingolumesfthe

Shakespeare ead editions tobecome he tandarddition fWoolf.

Textually,hese ditionsfMrsDallowayndTheVoyage ut rethemostmmaculate

available. he copy-textorMrsDalloway s themarked,orrectedroofs f thefirst

Americandition1925),while he opy-textor heVoyage ut s thefirstnglishdition

(1915).Bothvolumesontain sefulppendicesiting ariantsndemendations,ndwhile

The eviewf nglishtudies,ew eries, ol. 9,No.1961998) 0 Oxfordniversityress998

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