Ward was a popular and prolific novelist who is closely identified with the Victorian era in English life and literature. In her numerous novels she examined the social and moral issues that occupied Victorian readers, including women's role in society and the clash between science and evangelical theology. A dominant figure in late-Victorian public life who was known as much for her political activism and philanthropic activities as for her novels, Ward is chiefly remembered for providing a literary record of the intellectual life of England during a period when many long-held social values and public policies were being challenged.