![](http://static.cambridge.org/content/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:book:9781781440346/resource/name/9781781440346i.jpg)
- This book is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core
- Publisher:
- Pickering & Chatto
- Online publication date:
- December 2014
- Online ISBN:
- 9781781440346
- Subjects:
- Literature, Literary Texts
12th August 2024: digital purchasing is currently unavailable on Cambridge Core. Due to recent technical disruption affecting our publishing operation, we are experiencing some delays to publication. We are working hard to restore services as soon as possible and apologise for the inconvenience. For further updates please visit our website: https://www.cambridge.org/news-and-insights/technical-incident
When it appeared in spring 1811, Mary Brunton’s first novel, Self-Control, was an overnight best-seller that surpassed both its author’s modest expectations and its origins as a lady’s genteel pastime. Self-Control combines complex psychological portraiture, religious didacticism and social comedy with a sensitive eye for regional description. While a religious novel, it blends both exciting incident and dramatic characterization with a sophisticated analysis of contemporary gender politics. Going into four editions within one year, the unexpected success of Self-Control can be seen in its popularity both in Edinburgh and London, with contemporaries like Jane Austen part of an eager readership clamouring to number themselves among its readers. Brunton’s novel was such a success that an unauthorized edition was produced in America and it was also translated into French.
This is the first scholarly edition of the novel and includes textual variants.
* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.
Usage data cannot currently be displayed.