Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) was the most important woman writer of the eighteenth century, and one of the most exciting and complex authors of either sex. This collection of narratives challenges existing accounts of the romance, the novel, and eighteenth-century women. Whether her heroine is a princess in love with a commoner, an orphan pursued by a royal duke, or uncharacteristically playing the role of victim, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's brilliance never flags.