Amy Levy

The Romance of a Shop is an early “New Woman” novel about four sisters, who decide to establish their own photography business and their own home in central London after their father’s death and their loss of financial security. In this novel, Amy Levy examines both the opportunities and dangers of urban experience for women in the late nineteenth century who pursue independent work rather than follow the established paths of domestic service. By outfitting her characters as photographers, Levy emphasizes the importance of the gendered gaze in this narrative of the modern city. This Broadview edition prints for the first time since the 1880s Levy’s essay on Christina Rossetti and a short story set in North London, both published in Oscar Wilde’s magazine The Woman’s World. Other appendices include poetry by Levy, Michael Field, Dollie Radford, and A. Mary F. Robinson, and essays on Victorian photography, literary realism, “the woman question” at the end of the nineteenth century, and the plight of women working in London.

The Romance of a Shop

Set is the Anglo-Jewish community in Bayswater, this novel is about a couple who love each other, but his political ambitions demand money and she is poor.

Reuben Sachs

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "A London Plane-Tree, and Other Verse" by Amy Levy. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

A London Plane-Tree, and Other Verse

Miss Meredith

Amy Judith Levy (1861–1889) was a British poet, novelist, and essayist. She was notably the first Jewish woman to study at Cambridge university, and she became well-known for her feminist positions as well as her romantic relationships with both male and female political and literature figures. This book contains a collection of some of Levy's best and most famous poems. Levy suffered with major depression, growing worse as she got closer to her 30s and becoming aware of her growing deafness. Although showing such talents at a young age, Levy took her own life 2 months before her 28th birthday. This collection looks into the mind of this struggling poet and perhaps her final poetic thoughts and struggles with depression. Contents includes: “A Wall Flower”, “The First Extra”, “At a Dinner Party”, “Philosophy”, “A Game of Lawn Tennis”, “To E”, “A London Plane-Tree”, “London in July.”, “A March Day in London”, “Ballade of an Omnibus”, “Ballade of a Special Edition”, “Straw in the Street”, “Between the Showers”, “Out of Town”, “The Piano-Organ”, “London Poets”, and “The Village Garden”. A fantastic collection of classic poetry that deserves a place in every bookshelf. Other works by this author include: “Xantippe and Other Verse” (1881), “The Romance of a Shop” (1888), and “Miss Meredith” (1889). As part of our poetry imprint "Ragged Hand" Read & Co. is proudly publishing this brand new collection of classic poetry complete with an introductory biography of the author by Richard Garnett.

Of Gentle Seasons Passing One by One - Poems of a Miscellaneous Nature

The Romance of a Shop (1888) is a novel by Amy Levy. Published the year before her tragic death, The Romance of a Shop is the debut novel of a pioneering writer and feminist whose poetry and prose explores the concept of the New Woman while illuminating the realities of Jewish life in nineteenth century London. "The air of desolation which hung about the house had communicated itself in some vague manner to the garden, where the trees were bright with blossom, or misty with the tender green of the young leaves. Perhaps the effect of sadness was produced, or at least heightened, by the pathetic figure that paced slowly up and down the gravel path immediately before the house; the figure of a young woman, slight, not tall, bare-headed, and clothed in deep mourning." Following the unexpected death of their father, sisters Fanny, Gertrude, Lucy, and Phyllis are left with little inheritance and even less hope for the future. On the brink of despair, they join together to launch a photography business, each contributing to the best of their abilities in order to survive. As Lucy begins an apprenticeship with a local photographer, her sisters purchase and prepare their own studio for her return. Despite their efforts, they struggle to convince customers that a shop owned by women can demand the same prices as those run by men. Through perseverance and luck, however, the Lorimers find success as funeral photographers and through their connection to a prominent artist. As romance, illness, and war interrupt their plans, the sisters find solace in their mutual resolve to not only survive, but provide and care for one another. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition Amy Levy's The Romance of a Shop is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

Richard Garnett

First published in 1888, “The Romance of a Shop” is a novel by Amy Levy that tells the story of the Lorimer sisters who, following the death of their father, decide to open a photography business to avoid a life of poverty. An interesting exploration of the vagaries and vicissitudes of life for the “New Women” in the late 1900s that will appeal to those with an interest in history and feminism. Contents include: “In the Beginning”, “Friends in Need”, “Ways and Means”, “Number Twenty B”, “This Working-Day World”, “To the Rescue”, “A New Customer”, “A Distinguished Person”, “Show Sunday”, “Summing Up”, “A Confidence”, etc. Amy Judith Levy (1861–1889) was a British poet, novelist, and essayist. She was notably the first Jewish woman to study at Cambridge university, and she became well-known for her feminist positions as well as her romantic relationships with both male and female political and literature figures. Other works by this author include: “Xantippe and Other Verse” (1881), “Reuben Sachs” (1888), and “Miss Meredith” (1889). Read & Co. Classics is proudly republishing this classic novel now in a new edition complete with an introductory biography of the author by Richard Garnett.

With a Biography by Richard Garnett

La storia di una bottega

A Minor Poet and Other Verse

This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.

Amy Levy was born in London, England in 1861, the second of seven in a fairly wealthy Anglo-Jewish family. The children of the family read and participated in secular literary activities becoming firmly integrated into Victorian life. Her writing career was to begin early; her poem 'Ida Grey' appearing when she was only fourteen. Her stories 'Cohen of Trinity' and 'Wise in Their Generation,' were published by Oscar Wilde in his magazine "Women's World,' and are considered among her best. Her first novel Romance of a Shop, written in 1888 is based on four sisters who experience the pleasures and hardships of running a business in London during the 1880s. This was followed by Reuben Sachs (also 1888) and concerned with Jewish identity and mores in the England of her time and therefore somewhat controversial); Her other writings reveal feminist concerns; Xantippe and Other Verses, from 1881 includes a poem in the voice of Socrates' wife; the volume A Minor Poet and Other Verse from 1884 has dramatic monologues and lyric poems. In 1886, Levy began a series of essays on Jewish culture and literature for the Jewish Chronicle, including The Ghetto at Florence, The Jew in Fiction, Jewish Humour and Jewish Children. That same year while travelling in Florence she met writer Vernon Lee. It is generally assumed they fell in love and this inspired the poem 'To Vernon Lee'. Her final book of poems, A London Plane-Tree from 1889, shows the beginnings of the influence of French symbolism. Despite many friendships and active life, Amy had suffered for a long time with major depression and this, together with her growing deafness, led her to commit suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide on September 10, 1889, at the age of twenty-seven.

"A Lover May Be a Shadowy Creature, But Husbands Are Made of Flesh and Blood."

The Poetry of Amy Levy

"A Minor Poet, and Other Verse" by Amy Levy. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

A Minor Poet, and Other Verse

Letter from Amy Levy to Macmillan & Co. Ltd

Note, possibly from Amy Levy

Reuben Sachs, a Sketch

Amy Levy was a talented Anglo-Jewish writer who committed suicide at the age of 28 in 1889. During her brief career she published essays, short stories, three novels, and three collections of poetry, but none of them is in print today and her works are to be found almost solely in the closed stacks and rare book collections of university libraries. To correct this unavailability and set the stage for a generous selection of her work, Melvyn New introduces Amy Levy as an unmarried Victorian woman and an urban intellectual, disillusioned by the mores of her culture, yet unable to abandon her identification with the English Jews who embodied so much of what she scorned. He reconstructs her world in 1880s England--a time when the president of the British Medical Association warned his colleagues that educated women would become "more or less sexless. . . . [Such women] have highly developed brains but most of them die young"--raising questions that lead to the tortured heart and mind of this "found" writer.

Amy Levy

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