This collection of essays on novels and short stories ranges from the beginning of Victoria's reign through to the end of the 19th century. The essays represent a wide range of critical and theoretical viewpoints on fiction, and they deal with a number of lesser known Victorian works as well as with some of the most canonical texts of the period. The chronological range of the volume is extended by essays which explore Victorian texts' connections with earlier literature, as well as by studies of 20th-century novelists' responses to Victorian fiction.