The Claverings is filled with contemporary detail and shows, as Trollope often does, the weakness of men and the emotional strength of women.

    In addition to the title poem, it includes such masterpieces as "The Scholar Gipsy," "Thyrsis," "The Forsaken Merman," "Memorial Verses," and "Rugby Chapel."Although as a literary critic, Arnold championed the serene poise and impersonal grandeur of the classics, his own poems were often more romantic than classical in nature — intimate, personal, sentimental, even nostalgic. Yet it is these engaging qualities, together with his poems' lyrical inspiration and lofty meditative character, that continue to endear Matthew Arnold to lovers of poetry.

    Its setting and viewpoint have led to natural comparisons with Jane Eyre, but it is Jane Eyre shot through with scandal and sensation -- the kind of book that might have appealed to the first Mrs. Rochester. Despite its antiquated wills, inheritances, shotguns, and other paraphernalia, the novel is almost entirely accessible by modern readers -- with perhaps one exception. The reader should keep in mind that the phrase "make love to" denoted harmless flirting or praise in Victorian parlance. Thus when Selina urges, "Anne, come forward, and let Mr. Heneage make love to you. It is a pastime he favors," nothing sinister is implied. --Martha Bayless

    Initially serialised in The Dublin University Magazine, the novel had been brought to the attention of the publisher Bentley and Son by its editor, J S Le Fanu, who also happened to be Broughton's uncle. Although Jewsbury convinced Bentley that this novel was unsuitable for "decent people," she succeeded only in delaying its publication, as Broughton instead struck a deal with their rival, Tinsley Brothers. While Broughton ultimately triumphed, she was obliged to make extensive revisions, promising to "expunge it of coarseness and slanginess, & to rewrite those passages which cannot be toned down." Jewsbury's moral squeamishness was not shared by the reading public, who were thrilled by Broughton's vivid depiction of Kate Chester teetering on the brink of an adulterous liaison with the solipsistic and haughty Dare Stamer. Notwithstanding the extensive editorial changes, Broughton's novel remains a pioneering portrayal of female sexuality, or what Jewsbury called "highly coloured & hot blooded passion." Reproducing the text of its first appearance in volume form, this new edition of Not Wisely, but Too Well illuminates the novel's ideological and aesthetic complexity through appendices related to its publication history, revision, and reception. These appendices include a section containing Jewsbury's reader's report and Broughton and Le Fanu's correspondence with the Bentleys, a list of variants between serial and volume formats of the novel, and a selection of contemporary reviews. Together these materials provide a fascinating case study of the coming to print, and reception, of a controversial Victorian text, while also attesting to the challenges Broughton faced in representing female desire in her early fiction. This completely reset critical edition includes: * Introduction by Tamar Heller * Explanatory footnotes * Rhoda Broughton chronology * Select bibliography * Correspondence from the Bentley Archives relating to Not Wisely, but Too Well * Textual variants between the serialised and three-decker versions, including the original ending * Selection of contemporary reviews and responses.