Succinct and engaging portraits of nine British women authors who saw their own writing-whether it was stories for children, political tracts, or journalism-as a tool for the moral education of the masses. Between 1760 and 1860, a period of threatening moral decline, these women, many of them overlooked by contemporary literary scholars, were vital to England's progress in terms of character education and social reform.

Slavery is abolished, freedom of the press remains strong, and the British monarchy is still beloved today. Far from being marginal figures, the women highlighted in The Power of Storytelling were crucial participants during a complex, fraught, historical moment that still resonates with us today.