Abstract
The 1930s can be seen as a key turning point in the development of the historical novel: it is during this decade that the historical novel becomes a genre particularly associated with women writers. Women had, of course, written historical novels before. The gothic romances of Ann Radcliffe and her successors have 'historical' settings, while Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot both wrote historical novels. Baroness Orczy had been producing her Scarlet Pimpernel books since 1905 and Marjorie Bowen's The Viper of Milan had been a bestseller in 1906. As the 1920s wore on a steady flow of women's historical fiction gathered pace. Georgette Heyer's career as a bestselling historical romance writer began with The Black Moth in 1 92 1 . Naomi Mitchison published her first historical novel in 1923, while
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