Grant Allen 
The Woman Who Did 
Feminist Classic

The Woman Who Did is a tale about a young, self-assured middle-class woman who defies convention as a matter of principle and who is fully prepared to suffer the consequences of her actions. Herminia Barton, the Cambridge-educated daughter of a clergyman, frees herself from her parents’ influence, moves to London and starts living alone. As she is not a woman of independent means, she starts working as a teacher. When she meets and falls in love with Alan Merrick, a lawyer, she suggests they live together without getting married. Reluctantly, he agrees, and the couple move to Italy. There, in Florence, Merrick dies of typhoid before their daughter Dolores is born. Legal technicalities and the fact that they were not married prevent Herminia from inheriting any of Merrick’s money. Dreaming of being a role model for Dolores and her friends, Herminia returns to England and raises her daughter as a single mother.

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Grant Allen (1848-1899) was a Canadian science writer and novelist, and a public promoter of Evolution in the second half of the 19th century. After leaving his professorship, Allen turned his talents to writing, gaining a reputation for his essays on science and for literary works, eventually turning his attention to fiction. In 1895, his scandalous book titled The Woman Who Did, promulgating certain startling views on marriage and kindred questions, became a bestseller. The book told the story of an independent woman who has a child out of wedlock.