Burney's best known novel Evelina; or, A Young Lady's Entrance into the World (1778), is an early comedy of manners that depicts the coming-of-age of a young woman subject to the whims of irresponsible men and the restrictions of English society. With Evelina and three later books, Burney greatly influenced the early development of the novel, incorporating domestic and feminine concerns, and set a successful precedent for aspiring women authors, making way for the novel to become a genre both by and for women.

Biographical Information

Burney was born June 13, 1752 in London to Esther Sleepe and Charles Burney. Her mother died when Burney was ten, and she became attached to her father, a prominent musician and England's first musicologist. Although Burney was a shy child and received little formal education, she met a number of artists and intellectuals through her father. She read extensively and, while her father preferred...