by George Gissing (Author)
The Odd Women is a Victorian novel which deals with themes such as the role of women in society, marriage, morals and the early feminist movement. There was the notion in Victorian England that there was an excess of one million women over men. This meant there were "odd" women left over at the end of the equation when the other men and women had paired off in marriage. A cross-section of women dealing with this problem are described in "The Odd Women" and it can be inferred that their lifestyles also set them apart as odd in the sense of strange.
Back Jacket
The unmarried Madden sisters move together to London, where they rekindle their relationship with childhood friend Rhoda, an intellectual and educator. Monica Madden, young and beautiful, is bullied into marrying Edmund Widdowson, while Rhoda struggles to uphold her feminist principles against her attraction to Everard Barfoot. The Odd Women is a novel by George Gissing.