• Part I Childhood 1860-78: Of Humble Origins; Education and Revolution 1873-78; Dogberrys and Marxs 1873-78. Part 2 Life in Leicester 1878-85: The School Mistress - A Pleasant Life; Relationship, Traumas and Celebrities. Part 3 The East End, Poverty and Investigation 1885-93: Poverty in the East End and the Charity Organization Society; Jack the Ripper and Charles Booth; The Interim Years 1890-93. Part 4 A New Way of Life: 1893-1910: The Civil Service - A Suitable Career for a Woman?; George Gissing - "Born in Exile"; George and Clara - An Intimate Friendship?; Aftermath. Part 5 An Educated Working Woman and Beyond 1903-48: A Successful Life; The Final Chapter. Epilogue. Appendix 1: Geneaology of the Collet Family Appendix 2: Chronology of Clara's Life and Historical Events.

'McDonald's informative book contains some rich detail ... [It] will be of interest to history students and the general reader keen to find out more about this remarkable woman' - Times Higher Educational Supplement'This book is indispensable for anyone studying women's history in England in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is the first extensive study of a woman who became an authority on all areas of female professions after retiring from the public services in 1920.' - genderstudies.unibe.ch

• Part I Childhood 1860-78: Of Humble Origins; Education and Revolution 1873-78; Dogberrys and Marxs 1873-78. Part 2 Life in Leicester 1878-85: The School Mistress - A Pleasant Life; Relationship, Traumas and Celebrities. Part 3 The East End, Poverty and Investigation 1885-93: Poverty in the East End and the Charity Organization Society; Jack the Ripper and Charles Booth; The Interim Years 1890-93. Part 4 A New Way of Life: 1893-1910: The Civil Service - A Suitable Career for a Woman?; George Gissing - "Born in Exile"; George and Clara - An Intimate Friendship?; Aftermath. Part 5 An Educated Working Woman and Beyond 1903-48: A Successful Life; The Final Chapter. Epilogue. Appendix 1: Geneaology of the Collet Family Appendix 2: Chronology of Clara's Life and Historical Events.

'McDonald's informative book contains some rich detail ... [It] will be of interest to history students and the general reader keen to find out more about this remarkable woman' - Times Higher Educational Supplement'This book is indispensable for anyone studying women's history in England in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is the first extensive study of a woman who became an authority on all areas of female professions after retiring from the public services in 1920.' - genderstudies.unibe.ch

• Part I Childhood 1860-78: Of Humble Origins; Education and Revolution 1873-78; Dogberrys and Marxs 1873-78. Part 2 Life in Leicester 1878-85: The School Mistress - A Pleasant Life; Relationship, Traumas and Celebrities. Part 3 The East End, Poverty and Investigation 1885-93: Poverty in the East End and the Charity Organization Society; Jack the Ripper and Charles Booth; The Interim Years 1890-93. Part 4 A New Way of Life: 1893-1910: The Civil Service - A Suitable Career for a Woman?; George Gissing - "Born in Exile"; George and Clara - An Intimate Friendship?; Aftermath. Part 5 An Educated Working Woman and Beyond 1903-48: A Successful Life; The Final Chapter. Epilogue. Appendix 1: Geneaology of the Collet Family Appendix 2: Chronology of Clara's Life and Historical Events.

'McDonald's informative book contains some rich detail ... [It] will be of interest to history students and the general reader keen to find out more about this remarkable woman' - Times Higher Educational Supplement'This book is indispensable for anyone studying women's history in England in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is the first extensive study of a woman who became an authority on all areas of female professions after retiring from the public services in 1920.' - genderstudies.unibe.ch