The Heavenly Twins (1893) is a novel by Sarah Grand. Written the same year Grand moved to London, divorced her husband, and created a new identity for herself, The Heavenly Twins explores the feminist ideal of the New Woman. As a pioneering feminist whose marriage ended in bitter disappointment, Grand sought to address the frustrations of women whose every move in life was measured against the expectations of a patriarchal society. In her novel, she explores gender dysphoria, sexually transmitted diseases, and contraception as aspects of a wider feminine experience largely ignored in much of English literature. To be a young woman in Victorian England, one grows accustomed to the indignities of daily life. Despite this, Evadne, Angelica, and Edith do their best to live happily while keeping their families satisfied. Evadne struggles to match the realities of married life with the expectations of traditional society. Meanwhile, Edith enters a relationship with a man who seems well-intentioned but harbors a dangerous secret. Angelica, their friend, bristles against the strictures of womanhood. With the help of her twin brother Diavolo, she explores the freedoms afforded young men for nothing more than the gender they were assigned at birth. Dissatisfied with her life, she begins dressing as a man and uses her new identity to expand her social and romantic opportunities. As their lives take tragic and disappointing turns, they begin to understand how so many women end up trapped by marriage and motherhood, unable to pursue their dreams. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Sarah Grand's The Heavenly Twins is a classic work of Irish literature reimagined for modern readers.

About the Author
Sarah Grand (1854-1943) was an Irish feminist and novelist. Born Frances Elizabeth Bellenden Clarke in Donaghadee, County Down, Grand was raised in England by her mother following her father's death in 1862. She was expelled from the Royal Naval School in 1868 for organizing in support of feminist reformer Josephine Butler's advocacy for the rights of sex workers. She married David Chambers McFall, a widowed surgeon 23 years her senior. Together, they raised a son alongside two boys from McFall's previous marriage, travelling to the Far East and eventually settling in Lancashire. Constrained in her home life, she began writing novels and eventually left her husband in 1890 to move to London. There, she renamed herself Sarah Grand and published The Heavenly Twins (1893), a novel exploring the feminist ideal of the New Woman. Although she faced criticism for her radical views on marriage and the legal rights of women, Grand earned praise from such writers as George Bernard Shaw and George Gissing for her literary work.


Book Information
ISBN 9781513135182
Author Sarah Grand
Format Hardback
Page Count 704
Imprint West Margin Press
Publisher West Margin Press