"An Adventuress I would Be": Delineating Modern Womanhood through MISS CAYLEY'S ADVENTURES in the STRAND MAGAZINE

Scholarship on fin de siècle author Grant Allen (1848 - 99) largely overlooks the progressive nature of Allen's serialized fiction in the popular periodical press of the late nineteenth century. In particular, contemporary criticism of Miss Cayley's Adventures (Strand Magazine, March 1898 - February 1899) often analyzes it solely through the lens of detective fiction, thus disregarding the protagonist's self-identification as an adventuress, as well as how Allen reframes that label within the socio-cultural context of the late Victorian era. Allen's very place within the popular press often obscures scholars' view of his progressive writing of Lois Cayley. This essay situates Miss Cayley's Adventures within the Strand and examines how the illustrated text delineates modern womanhood for the magazine's middlebrow audience.