Li-ching Chen 
Family Annals, or the Sisters 
by Mary Hays

Family Annals, or the Sisters, Mary Hays’s last novel, was originally published in 1817. This philosophically complex novel examines the themes of the importance of women’s education, economic equality of the sexes, and general equality among all human beings. This edition of Family Annals, with a new introduction and editorial commentary by Li-ching Chen, will be of interest to scholars and students of the writing of the Romantic and Victorian eras. It will contribute to various debates about women’s education in the nineteenth century, and will provide a new avenue of research in women’s writing.