Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-245) and index.
Contents
On the social nature of reading -- Nineteenth-century white women's reading groups : literary inspiration and social reform -- Between past and present : introductory reflections on the changing nature of women's reading groups -- Exploring the social world of Houston's reading groups -- Book selection : negotiating group identity through literature -- Conversing with books, fashioning subjectivity, dealing with difference -- Reading groups and the challenge of mass communication and marketing -- At the end.
