"I like the almost seamless blending of literary discussion with psychological information, as well as the author's use of methodologies from the areas of women's studies, cultural studies, African-American literary and folk studies, multiculturalism, and psychoanalysis. The book is significant to the entire field of women's studies and is also a marker for the gaps in our accepted academic discourses. It is, in a large sense, cultural history. By paralleling turn-of-the-century works with very contemporary ones, Horvitz creates a meaningful century of discussion." — Linda Wagner-Martin, author of Favored Strangers: Gertrude Stein and Her Family"Horvitz uses recent trauma theory as she analyzes the representation of sexual trauma and heterosexual sadomasochism in selected works by a diverse group of women authors. This book provides a thoughtful and eminently readable contribution to the study of psychoanalysis and literature, trauma literature, feminist studies, and women's fiction." — J. Brooks Bouson, author of Quiet As It's Kept: Shame, Trauma, and Race in the Novels of Toni Morrison
