John William Godward, Ionian Dancing Girl
An Englishman, newly inheriting the family estate, returns after many years on the Continent with his ballet dancer wife.
Annie Edwardes (1830?-1896) wrote some 21 novels, many featuring heroines who, like the one here, defy Victorian social convention.
“Mrs. Edwardes understands and describes man very well indeed; and woman and her nature she understands something more than very well.” Pall Mall Gazette, November 21, 1871
“This is the brightest book we have read for some time. . . . With little plot and less descriptive writing, it is full of sparkle, and point, and sub-acid humour, and sketches of character.” Spectator, November 25, 1871
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