"Diana of the Crossways — Volume 1" by George Meredith is a novel published in 1885, based on socialite Caroline Norton's life. Beautiful and intelligent Diana Warwick becomes entangled in political and social scandal when her efforts to help her husband through a friendship with a Cabinet minister backfire. Attempting to live independently as a writer, she finds her involvement in politics leads to both personal and public catastrophe. The work has been described as a feminist novel exploring themes of women's agency and independence. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
These books are free to read. Each is in the public domain in the United States; check your own country's rules before you copy or share one.
