Ever since Sappho first put stylus to papyrus, women who write have been labelled mad, undisciplined, and dangerous. Offering an alternative history of English literature, Anna Beer builds a vibrant new canon through Restoration wits, scandalous novelists, and medieval mystics. With provocative wit, Beer delves into the lives and works of eight pioneers: Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, Aemilia Lanyer, Anne Bradstreet, Aphra Behn, Mary Wortley Montagu, Jane Austen, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon.