Description: It is at last being recognized that, contrary to common understanding, there were working-class women poets in the nineteenth century. Yet this growing awareness is rarely accompanied by a sustained engagement with their poetry. Painstaking research into the life and work of an author remains constricted to the Brownings and Rossettis of both sexes. The present study breaks with this academic habit. It is the first critical biography of the Glaswegian writer who signed her poems as 'The Factory Girl'. It is an essay in recovery and exploration, situating Ellen Johnston at the intersection of gender, class and nation. It documents her range of subjects, styles and voices. The book is concluded by a selection of Ellen Johnston's verse.
Review Quotes: « 'Factory Girl' is the product of a strong interest, a commitment to research ... the book is a challenge by the editor, to adapt critical approach to material and context, to show flexibility in drawing information and critical insight from whatever is available... 'Factory Girl' makes the reader re-evaluate both the poetry it presents and the reader's assumptions on reading both the book and the editor's presentation of the poetry: no mean achievement.