After the death of her mother and the loss of her family’s fortune, it falls to young Glen Westley to do what she can for herself and her ailing father. Determined to make her own way in the world, she moves from the West of Ireland to London and works tirelessly to succeed as a novelist, despite the limitations her sex and nationality represent.

Having struggled so long for fame, it is at last thrust upon her – but fame always comes at a price.

A Struggle for Fame is a brilliant novel of astute and observations, still relevant over a century after it was first published. Gender, class, affluence and ability are all laid bare under the author’s exacting eye.

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Charlotte Riddell (1832-1906), the youngest daughter of the High Sheriff of Co. Antrim, was one of the most successful novelists of the Victorian period. Riddell’s writing is informed by a loss of comfort and social standing experienced as a young woman upon the death of her father and subsequent move to London, where she struggled to make a living for herself and her ailing mother through her literary talents. At last she found support through a small publisher, and throughout her career, spanning half a century, Riddell produced over fifty works including novels and short stories.