Reviewed by:

• Victorian Bestseller: The Life of Dinah Craik by Karen Bourrier
• Taya Sazama (bio)

How does one account for a literary legacy that has been largely forgotten by modern literary history? Karen Bourrier's Victorian Bestseller traces the popularity of author Dinah Mulock Craik during the nineteenth century, delving into the extraordinary circumstances that helped launch Craik into the literary spotlight. Bourrier contextualizes Craik within the changing culture of printing and publication that saw a dramatic increase in women authors and the emergence of the family magazine. As Bourrier notes in her preface, the biography's dual aims are to highlight Craik's "fascinating life story" and to serve as "a case study in what it took to make it as a popular woman writer in the nineteenth century" (vii). Bourrier "draw[s] on over one thousand previously unpublished letters and fourteen years of diaries" from Craik, her family, friends, and literary acquaintances, substantially contributing to the limited scholarship on Craik's life and literary career.

The biography begins with Craik's parents, Dinah Mellard and Thomas Mulock, describing their families, courtship, and early marriage. Craik began writing poetry as a child, but the family's move to London in 1840 presented her first opportunities for publishing. Thus, Bourrier places Craik among a growing tradition of juvenile writers who benefited from an "expansion of education" and the "periodical press" (26). These early chapters also introduce a key concept that features prominently throughout the biography: literary sociability. Craik's initiation into the literary sphere began with the influence and support of her father, a dissenting preacher and literary lecturer. He introduced his daughter to a wide-ranging circle of literary figures in London, including authors, theater managers, editors, and publishers, and Craik continued to expand this circle throughout her life. As women were excluded from many of the more conventional paths [End Page 165] to authorship open to male writers, literary sociability was an important avenue for young women to forge professional connections; in fact, Craik's social connections led to many of her early publication opportunities. After establishing her own career, Craik repaid the favor to many other young aspiring authors and artists, extending the tradition of literary sociability.

In the following chapters, Bourrier focuses on Craik's early career writing for various periodicals, such as Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, Miscellany of Useful and Entertaining Tracts, and Papers for the People. Craik's first single-authored publications, which were children's fiction, quickly led to the publication of her first four novels with Chapman and Hall. Drawing on letters between Craik and her publishers, Bourrier demonstrates that Craik possessed a mind for business and a desire to grow her literary brand. She negotiated her price, suggested publication details, and chose to publish first anonymously and later as "the author of John Halifax, Gentleman" (83). A writer of domestic fiction and romance novels, Craik's fame reached its peak with the commencement of the family magazine, which "paid well, circulated widely, and enhanced an author's reputation," particularly among readers of moral, domestic tales (viii). Writing steadily for these illustrated family magazines also had the benefit of extending Craik's fame across the Atlantic, and she enjoyed immense public success in both the United Kingdom and the Unites States.

Bourrier next turns to Craik's personal life, including her marriage to George Craik in 1865 and the later adoption of her daughter, Dorothy Craik. Both events bordered on the scandalous: George Craik was eleven years her junior, and much of Victorian society disapproved or were suspicious of adoption, particularly when a child's parentage was in question. Such was the case with Dorothy, who was found abandoned on New Year's Day in 1869. Despite discouragement from friends, the Craiks determined to keep Dorothy and raise her as their own. Dinah Craik's literary popularity and output remained steady during this time; leaving behind the three-volume novels of her early career, she produced shorter, one-volume novels at the rate of one per year...

审核人：

• 维多利亚时代的畅销书：凯伦·伯瑞尔 (Karen Bourrier)的《黛娜·克雷克( Dinah Craik)传》
• Taya Sazama (bio)

人们如何解释现代文学史已基本遗忘的文学遗产？Karen Bourrier维多利亚时期的畅销书追溯了作家黛娜·穆洛克·克雷克 (Dinah Mulock Craik) 在 19 世纪的受欢迎程度，深入探讨了帮助克雷克成为文学聚光灯的特殊情况。Bourrier 将 Craik 置于不断变化的印刷和出版文化中，女性作家急剧增加，家庭杂志出现。正如 Bourrier 在她的序言中指出的那样，这本传记的双重目标是突出 Craik 的“迷人的人生故事”，并作为“一个案例研究，了解如何使其成为 19 世纪受欢迎的女作家”（vii）。Bourrier“借鉴了克雷克、她的家人、朋友和文学熟人的一千多封以前未发表的信件和十四年的日记”，为有限的克雷克奖学金做出了重大贡献

传记从克雷克的父母黛娜梅拉德和托马斯穆洛克开始，描述了他们的家庭、求爱和早婚。克雷克从小就开始写诗，但 1840 年全家搬到伦敦，这为她提供了第一次出版的机会。因此，Bourrier 将 Craik 置于不断增长的少年作家传统中，他们受益于“教育的扩展”和“期刊”（26）。这些早期章节还介绍了贯穿整个传记的一个关键概念：文学社交能力。克雷克进入文学领域始于她父亲的影响和支持，父亲是一位持不同意见的传教士和文学讲师。他把女儿介绍给伦敦的文学界人士，包括作家、剧院经理、编辑和出版商，克雷克在她的一生中继续扩大这个圈子。由于女性被排除在许多更传统的道路之外[第 165 页] 由于对男性作家开放，文学社交是年轻女性建立职业联系的重要途径；事实上，克雷克的社会关系为她提供了许多早期的出版机会。建立自己的事业后，克雷克回报了许多其他有抱负的年轻作家和艺术家的青睐，延续了文学社交的传统。

在接下来的章节中，Bourrier 重点介绍了 Craik 早期为各种期刊撰写的文章，例如Chambers 的 Edinburgh Journal、Miscellany of Useful and Entertaining Tracts和Papers for the People。克雷克的第一部单人出版物是儿童小说，很快就导致她与查普曼和霍尔合着的前四部小说出版。Bourrier 借鉴了 Craik 和她的出版商之间的信件，证明了 Craik 拥有商业头脑和发展她的文学品牌的愿望。她协商了她的价格，提出了出版细节，并选择先匿名出版，后来作为“约翰哈利法克斯的作者，绅士” (83) 作为国内小说和言情小说作家，克雷克的名气随着家庭杂志的创刊而达到顶峰，该杂志“收入丰厚，发行量广，提高了作者的声誉”，尤其是在道德、家庭故事的读者中(viii). 为这些有插图的家庭杂志稳步写作也有利于将克雷克的名声扩大到大西洋彼岸，她在英国和美国都享有巨大的公众成功。

Bourrier 接下来转向 Craik 的个人生活，包括她于 1865 年与 George Craik 的婚姻以及后来收养她的女儿 Dorothy Craik。这两件事都接近于丑闻：乔治·克雷克比她小 11 岁，维多利亚社会的大部分人都不赞成或怀疑收养，尤其是当孩子的出身有问题时。多萝西就是这种情况，她在 1869 年元旦被发现被遗弃。尽管遭到朋友的劝阻，克雷克斯夫妇还是决定留住多萝西并将她当作自己的孩子抚养。在此期间，黛娜·克雷克 (Dinah Craik) 的文学受欢迎程度和产量保持稳定；抛开她早期职业生涯的三卷小说，她以每年一部的速度制作较短的一卷小说......