First published in 1791, Elizabeth Inchbald's story of the courtship and marriage between a ward and her guardian, a Catholic priest, prefigures Jane Austen in its sureness of touch and subtlety of characterization.

Elizabeth Inchbald

The late J.M.S. Tompkins edited the OEN text from which edition derives Jane Spencer is a lecturer in English at the University of Edinburgh. Her other publications include The Rise of the Woman Novelist (Blackwell, 1986). Her introduction to A Simple Story reconsiders Elizabeth Inchbald in the light of current feminist thinking.

'well worth reading, standing as it does at a watershed of the English novel' University of Edinburgh Journal

'A charming marginally pre-Austen tale' Shirley de Kock, Southern Africa Cape Times

'Excellent choice of reprint' I. A. Bell, Aberystwyth

'Excellent text, well edited.' Henry Merritt, C.C.A.T.

'this 1792 novel deserves its place for its charm, its readability and as an early expression of the need for women to have a reasonable education' David Holloway, Sunday Telegraph