Eavesdropping in the Novel from Austen to Proust

Ann Gaylin is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at Yale University. She has published articles on Wilkie Collins and Proust. Her articles have appeared in Texas Studies in Literature and Language and The Cincinnati Romance Review.

• Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. I'm all ears: Pride and Prejudice, or the story behind the story; 2. Eavesdropping and the gentle art of Persuasion; 3. Household words: Balzac's and Dickens's domestic spaces; 4. The madwoman outside the attic: eavesdropping and narrative agency in The Woman in White; 5. La double entente: eavesdropping and identity in A la recherche du temps perdu; Conclusion: covert listeners and secret agents; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.

'… the cultural impact of eavesdropping on notions of space, identity and reading are well articulated and ultimately convincing. Gayling's scholarship provides yet another focus for the study of nineteenth century literature and culture and critics will find value in her novel approach to a phenomenon that resonates as much in the contemporary world as it did over a century ago.' English