This book shows that you can have a decent story without having great writing. The writing is very straightforward and boring, unfortunately. The premise is cute.

The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann follows a woman author in Gilded Age Boston. During this time period, women writers were considered less than their male counterparts, and there was a large discrepancy between the amount they were paid. Victoria not only wanted her work to be taken seriously, but she also wanted what she was rightfully owed. This story rings true even now for so many women still fighting for equal pay and respect.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. The plot was interesting, and I liked the writing style. It started off very well, but I did lose interest in the middle.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I loved this novel about finding your voice and the importance of stories to our identity, individually and collectively. Life-affirming, heart-wrenching and wonderfully enjoyable.

Thanks to Net Galley for this amazing book. Ms. Pye knows how to stick the landing. Wow. I got chocked up at the end there. Brava! Ms. Pye indeed.
If you love books about books and writing and art. Get this.
If you love books...which you must if you are here, get this.

Thank you NetGalley & publisher for this eARC.

This was an easy reading but I felt like I would not mark this book as a His-fic genre, more to probably a holiday read or beach read. This book although it is an easy read, but there the pace was slow then peak then slow so which is why I took me awhile to finish this book. Nonetheless this book is recommended to all who intends to be a writer. Still, I give this a four star because of the scene in the court.

P/S: this book was also inspired by pen-name Gail Thompson in 1867, as mentioned in acknowledgement.

"The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann" by Virginia Pye is a captivating and thought-provoking exploration of a woman's journey during the Gilded Age in Boston. This novel seamlessly weaves together themes of feminism, self-discovery, and the power of literature, earning it a well-deserved four-star rating.

Set against the backdrop of Gilded Age Boston, the story revolves around Victoria Swann, a successful author of romance and adventure novels. Victoria's decision to break away from her publisher's expectations and share her own story marks a turning point in her life. The consequences are profound – she loses her standing with her publisher, her income, and her marriage. However, this seemingly personal decision leads her to become a champion of women's rights, aligning herself with the hard-working young women who have been her most faithful readers.

The strength of the novel lies in its exploration of Victoria's transformation and her advocacy for women's rights. Pye skillfully portrays the challenges and societal expectations faced by women during this historical period, creating a rich and immersive narrative. The portrayal of Victoria's struggle to find her true voice, both on and off the page, adds depth to the character and makes her journey relatable to readers.

The relationship between Victoria and her young Harvard-educated editor adds an intriguing dynamic to the story. As they navigate the literary establishment together, their alliance becomes a catalyst for change and liberation. The novel not only explores the power of writing and reading but also highlights how acts of defiance can lead to personal and societal liberation.

Pye's writing is evocative and draws readers into the vividly depicted world of Gilded Age Boston. The themes of revision, both in life and on the page, are skillfully interwoven, emphasizing the intimate connection between personal growth and the creative process.

While the novel is a compelling exploration of feminist themes, readers may find some aspects of the plot predictable or reminiscent of similar narratives in historical fiction. Additionally, the pacing could be uneven at times, with certain sections feeling rushed.

In conclusion, "The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann" is a compelling and thought-provoking novel that successfully combines historical fiction with themes of feminism, self-discovery, and the transformative power of literature. Virginia Pye's storytelling prowess shines through as she navigates the complexities of Gilded Age Boston and brings to life a character whose journey resonates with courage and resilience. The novel earns a solid four-star rating for its engaging narrative, well-drawn characters, and exploration of timeless themes that remain relevant today.

I love books about books and writing, so I was excited to read The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann. Unfortunately, I found it slow going and the story and characters didn’t quite click for me. I appreciated the historical Boston setting, but ended up not finishing the book. Thank you to Regal House Publishing for the Advance Copy.

A novel about a female author who starts to challenge women’s roles in society and stands up for what is right, even when it’s hard.

I thought this one was ok. I didn’t really connect with the voice/writing style so I struggled through it a bit. I also think the author could’ve done a little more research on some historical aspects.

As is often the case with historical fiction, like one may have seen in Lessons in Chemistry, it can be very difficult to write about it without our contemporary eyes making a major indent into the book. This has happened to The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann, as we follow Victoria’s predicaments with the publishing industry in the Gilded Age. It was a really nice read and I was immersed in the story nonetheless. Victoria’s character development is interesting and compelling.

This book is quite good, and I enjoyed the premise and the concept of the book. Having an author in a book is something I would always love to read! We get to see the struggle of the author, how they got take advantaged by the company etc. Whilst the book is enjoyable, I also find some part is quite boring and hard to get into. Overall, I would highly recommend it to any historical fiction fans!

I am sure this book will find it's perfect readers!

I love everything about the blurb it was just a little too descriptive and didn't have enough dialogue to draw me in... but that's just me! I would say give it a try if you enjoy this time period. It might be just the book for you! :)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc. All opinions expressed are my own.

I thought that this book was very interesting and also thought provoking. I really liked Victoria and her independent thinking.
Many thanks to Regal House Publishing and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed the entire premise of the book- having the story of an author in a book will always be a good thing! Whilst I did find the book a little bit hard to get into, once I did I found it a really entertaining historical fiction. I loved Victoria Meeks/Swann as the strong female lead that pushes for what she wants. I think that the historical backdrop of women’s rights was perfect for the plot of the book.

This book started out so interesting and then quickly lost me. It felt like it was trying to do and say too much instead of just telling the story. I enjoyed it overall, but wanted it to be more concise and direct.

"Stories, as we all know, are woven into the fabric of our lives. Each book we have read and those that some of us have written, create a thicket of recollections and emotions too tangled to unravel in our minds."

Victoria Meeks is a successful novelist, something that's quite a challenge during the mid-1800s in Boston. She writes romantic adventure books under the pen name, Mrs Swann, featuring heroines who travel to the far reaches of the earth where they get into pickles, and need to be saved by a dashing hero.

But Victoria is tired of writing these books. Instead, she wants to depict reality – social issues that affect women, both ones who are privileged, like her, and those who languish in poverty. She begins to champion women's rights, like the fact that women authors are paid much less than their male counterparts. As she finds her voice on the page (with the assistance of a young and liberal new editor), Victoria also discovers more about herself.

I really struggled with this book. I liked Victoria and I enjoyed the idea of the overall story but the narrative style was just not for me. Basically, it's the 'this happened, then this happened, and then this happened', kind of style. Sometimes the story jumps very quickly between plot points without fleshing out the scenes enough that the reader can understand the characters' motivations. Some crucial bits are kind of glossed over, with just a couple of paragraphs to connect one scene with another.

I found it tough to write this review (I really don't like writing negative ones) because it's often hard to articulate my views concisely. The story is kind of sweet but I don't think that was the intention. I felt like it could have packed a much harder punch, just like the books Victoria want to write instead of her shallow, frivolous ones. Not that the book is silly, it's just that it lacked the kind of depth I would have expected a book with these themes, like gender and class inequality, to have.

Well written feminist historical book.
The book tells the tale of a female author in the early 1900'. The book was well written and interesting in the setting, though not much happened, and it was also rather slow in places. The feminist message was interesting, but became way too repetitive and preachy at the end.
A good book overall.

Virginia Pye has woven an insightful and engrossing story from a news story about a woman writer who, exploited by her publishers, took them to court. Victoria Swann’s narrative is the outcome, combining debate about the value of women’s and men’s writing, the way in which romantic novels are described to compare them badly with fictional work that has no romantic narrative, the feminist arguments for women’s right to equal payment and, alongside this, their right to property and how they might be seen as respondents or plaintiffs in a court. Victoria Swann, and in her later iteration, when she returns to her own name, Victoria Meeks is a wonderful vehicle for conveying these arguments. She is a captivating character, with a background that raises even more issues about women’s role, and a warm but strong presence.

Victoria Swann is introduced weathering the remains of winter in the slush and mud of Boston. She carries a carpet bag, which continues to feature as part of her apparel, although her beautiful clothing and smart boots give way to simple country clothing when she returns home, and later, to clothing that reflects her changed circumstances. The change is not only financial, but an indication of the way in which she begins to see herself as an author and purveyor of women’s concerns and demands for equality. Here, when she first appears, she is going to her publisher where she expects to be feted, provided with comfortable seating, delicious pastries of her choosing and tea. She is about to undermine the seemingly favourable circumstances she enjoys as a cosseted writer of bestselling novels, an advice column and shorter, but ever popular ‘penny dreadfuls’.
Victoria Swann plans to change her writing style, having begun a novel that rejects the exciting and exotic environments in which her heroines find true love: she wants to write about women’s real circumstances and has the first chapter for her editor’s perusal. Her plans are thwarted when she is asked to wait and realises that another woman writer is about to become a favourite of the publisher. At the same time, she is expected to produce more adventure and romance novels at an even faster pace.

The account of Victoria Swann’s domestic circumstances is harrowing, but rings true – her marriage, the way in which she entered the marriage and the way in which it has progressed impacts on her writing, ownership of the results of her writing, and her future as an author. Her domestic life becomes even more fraught as she tries to escape her role as Victoria Swann. The descriptions of opium dens and their impact are graphic. Recognition that although women have some property rights these can disappear through a husband’s duplicity and the acceptance by the law that his rights supersede hers, dishonesty associated with her publishers, and her realisation that her royalties have been less than those paid to the male writers who benefit from the popularity of her novels and the income they raise for the publisher are canvassed.
Boston is not the only location in which Victoria faces problems and concerns herself with the issues that impact unfairly on women. She returns to the farm on which she grew up, her childhood memories and the aunt and uncle with whom she has had rare contact. These well drawn characters not only add to Victoria’s story but have valuable stories of their own.

Fiction can make excellent social commentary and Virginia Pye has used her facility with characterisation, good story lines and plotting and use of drama to weave together an engaging narrative. Victoria Swann, and Victoria Meeks both have valuable contributions to make to publishing and Virgina Pye has argued their cases well. Her understanding that ‘women’s fiction’ may be a vehicle for ideas which contribute to women questioning their position makes a solid contribution to feminist understanding. At the same time, she writes a great story that I found illuminating and fun to read.

Victoria Swann is a feminist hero in this book about a female author in the gilded age. This is one of those books that reminds you how far we have come, and how far we have to left to go. So many of the things Swann was fighting for— equal pay, respect in the workplace, bodily autonomy, agency in her marriage— are things so many are still fighting for today.

What I loved…
- the plot
- the main character and so many of the side characters
- the major issues this takes on
- the historical fiction aspects of the book

My main issue was just the pacing. At times, this felt like a bit of a slog or just too slow-moving for me. It made some parts of it hard to get through.

📖I recommend this if the history of women’s rights is really your jam, or if you love books about books and the writing process.

REVIEW(3.5 stars)
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”
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First of all, I'd like to commend the authors wonderful writing, she did a good job of showing rather than telling. I really loved her description of the scenes. I liked the storyline, but I felt it was underdeveloped. I enjoyed reading about Victoria and her writing journey from Mrs Swann to Miss Meeks. However, I wanted more showing when she finally released her controversial book, The Boston Harbor Girl. The author had been building my interests since the beginning of the book, and it fell flat when she finally released it. I think the whole release of the book only occupied a few pages of a chapter, and I was disappointed. It felt like the main purpose of the book was rushed
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I would have loved a dual timelines showcasing the struggles Victoria went through during her first years of marriage, I was curious as to how she was then and how her husband was.
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Nevertheless, Victoria Meeks/Swann/Byrne was an amazing, strong character. I admire her for fighting for what was hers to begin with. The book was a good one, and I enjoyed it. I just wanted little tweaks here and there. But it's worth your time
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I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann by Virginia Pye is the story of a woman author’s triumph in Gilded Age Boston.

Victoria Meeks is an enormously successful Romance-Adventure author, writing under the pen-name Victoria Swann and living a hidden and unhappy life as Mrs. Byrne. She’s at a crossroads. Her marriage is a diaster. She has grown bored with writing romance and wants to create something serious. And her publisher has just been bought out and is soon to go under. She desperately needs a change.

While any one of her many, many readers would imagine Victoria’s life to be a series of exciting adventures taking place all over the world, in truth Victoria has never traveled anywhere. She loves writing but hates being forced to churn out very similar novels one after another, along with a series of shorter penny-dreadfuls, and writing (or at least putting her name on) an advice column for troubled young women. She’s worn down. While it’s true she has made a fair amount of money, her publisher has made a huge fortune off of her, something Victoria is only beginning to understand. When she tries to tell her editor that she wants to stop writing her popular series and try something grittier and true-to-life, he tells her no. She cannot. She has to write what sells.

But Victoria knows her own mind. In the face of numerous challenges, she reinvents herself.

The novel is both a critique and a defense of romance literature. But it is a very definite critique of the way men have looked down on women’s literature while reaping the profits of women writers and a female readership. This is an enjoyable peek into the world of the late 1800s in Boston. Victoria’s difficulties seemed a little too easily resolved at times, but she is a feisty heroine and easy to root for.