The Wanderer; or, Female Difficulties (Volume 2 of 5)

"The Wanderer; or, Female Difficulties (Volume 2 of 5)" by Fanny Burney is a novel written in the late 18th century. The book explores themes of female agency and societal expectations through the struggles of its main characters, notably Ellis and Elinor. As Ellis navigates a world filled with emotional turmoil and societal constraints, her attempts to assert her independence reveal the complexities of women's roles during this period. The opening of the novel introduces Ellis in a state of deep contemplation following a distressing event involving her friend Elinor. As Ellis grapples with her feelings of responsibility and fear for Elinor's well-being, she finds herself increasingly caught between the expectations of social propriety and her urgent desire for freedom. The tension heightens as Ellis receives a letter from Elinor revealing her intentions to flee, provoking further chaos and concern among their social circle. This instability sets the stage for Ellis’s journey of self-discovery and the challenges she faces as she seeks to forge a path for herself amidst external pressures and personal conflicts. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Frances Burney, also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post of "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, George III's queen. In 1793, aged 41, she married a French exile, General Alexandre d'Arblay. After a long writing career and wartime travels that stranded her in France for over a decade, she settled in Bath, England, where she died on 6 January 1840. The first of her four novels, Evelina (1778), was the most successful and remains her most highly regarded, followed by Cecilia (1782). Most of her stage plays were not performed in her lifetime. She wrote a memoir of her father (1832) and many letters and journals that have been gradually published since 1889, forty-nine years after her death.