Courting Disaster

Zoë McGee has a PhD from Queen Mary University of London and an MSt in eighteenth-century studies from the University of Oxford. She has spoken at conferences internationally and now performs at very nerdy stand-up comedy nights. Among other things, she has worked as a university teacher, a bookseller and a professional board-game-explainer. She owns too many books and is a competitive ballroom dancer in her spare time.

• IntroductionPart I: Consent1 Clarissa, or The Perfect Victim Myth2 Cecilia, or Credit and Credibility3 Jane Doe, or Misreading the RoomPart II: Innocence4 Ophelia, or Resisting the Unknown5 Camilla & Eugenia, or What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You6 Evelina, or The Value of VirginityPart III: Violence7 Anon., or The Context of the Courtroom8 Mary, or Violating Convention9 Theodora & Dorothea, or The Bystander EffectPart IV: Marriage10 Elinor, or Honouring Engagements11 Fanny, or The Price of Refusal12 Anne, or Negotiating the FutureConclusionIndex

‘Zoë McGee combines righteous feminist anger and flawless analysis, demonstrating not only how to read centuries old literature but why it remains so important that we do.’Helena Kelly, author of Jane Austen, the Secret Radical‘In this remarkable, moving and beautifully written book, Zoë McGee charts a new path – from the eighteenth century to the present – for stories of women and consent. Rarely have the novels of two centuries ago so jumped off the page and into our lives as in Courting Disaster.’Devoney Looser, author of Wild for Austen‘By turns witty, hard-hitting and compassionate, McGee explores how the eighteenth-century courtship novel from Samuel Richardson to Jane Austen anticipates and thoroughly illuminates our modern debates about sexual violence, victimisation, trauma, credibility and consent. Courting Disaster reveals the key role that writing and storytelling play in the ongoing battle against sexual violence, and convincingly demonstrates that literature can change our lives and better our future’ .Robert Morrison, author of The Regency Revolution