The Odd Women 1893 is a novel by George Gissing Inspired by a report of over one million more women living in Britain than men Gissing sought to explore the societal and personal implications of unmarried life while exploring the demands of the growing feminist movement The Odd Women is a story of romance independence and the pressures of society that poses important questions about convention in Victorian England while proving surprisingly relevant for our own times After moving together to London the unmarried Madden sisters rekindle their relationship with Rhoda a neighbor and friend from their childhood in Clevedon Rhoda also unmarried lives with Mary Barfoot with whom she runs a secretarial school for young women While Monica the youngest Madden sister is bullied into marrying Edmund Widdowson a middleaged brute Rhoda rejects the advances of Marys cousin Everard Opposed to marriage altogether Rhoda is initially able to avoid the fate of Monica who suffers in her stifling relationship with Edmund and longs for a younger romantic man named Bevis Striking up an affair Monica meets secretly with Bevis while attempting to avoid the suspicions of her jealous overbearing husband...
