BROUGHTON, Trev Lynn 1959-

PERSONAL: Born 1959.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Routledge, 29 West 35th St., New York, NY 10001.

CAREER: University of York, York, England, instructor in women's studies.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Linda Anderson) Women's Lives/Women's Times: New Essays on Auto/Biography, State University of New York Press (Albany, NY), 1997.

(Editor and author of introduction, with Joseph Bristow) The Infernal Desires of Angela Carter: Fiction, Femininity, Feminism, Addison-Wesley (Reading, MA), 1997.

(Editor with Ruth Symes) The Governess: An Anthology, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1998.

Men of Letters, Writing Lives: Masculinity and Literary Auto/Biography in the Late-Victorian Period, Routledge (New York, NY), 1999.

SIDELIGHTS: Trev Lynn Broughton teaches women's studies at the University of York in England, and her studies focus on on "life writing" and on "Victorian masculinities." Women's Lives/Women's Times: New Essays on Auto/Biography reveals how autobiographies can be used in women's studies; The Infernal Desires of Angela Carter: Fiction, Femininity, Feminism examines the work of the polemical fiction writer who burst upon the British literary scene in the 1960s. Carter explores erotic fantasy, sexual fetishism, and women's desires in stories that contain elements of myth, fairy tale, and Gothic horror. She was renowned for her style, her subversive wit, and her commitment to feminist themes. Desires of Angela Carter gives an overview of Carter's career and illuminates the development of her feminist philosophy. The Governess: An Anthology looks at the figure of the governess in fact and fiction. Topics covered include "Becoming a Governess," "A Working Life," "The Problems of the Governess Life," "Benevolence," "The Governess and National Identities," and "Fantasies of the Governess." A critic for the Nineteenth-Century Literature journal called The Governess a "splendid anthology" that is "well illustrated and thoughtfully edited." The reviewer further noted that The Governess would be an aid to anyone studying Victorian literature.

In Men of Letters, Writing Lives: Masculinity and Literary Auto/Biography in the Late-Victorian Period, Broughton studies the life-writing of men at the end of the nineteenth century. Broughton points out the men of that age were obsessed with sexual performance, as well as with professional success. Biography's Herbert Sussman wrote that "Broughton's perception of Victorian masculine sexual issues is always acute, especially in noting why certain male troubles were problemized at the end of the century." Sussman also noted that "Broughton's work enlarges our awareness of auto/biography and of the construction of masculinity." Martin A. Danahay, in Victorian Studies, called Men of Letters, Writing Lives "incredibly rich."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Biography, fall, 1998, p. 491; winter, 2000, Herbert Sussman, review of Men of Letters, Writing Lives: Masculinity and Literary Auto/Biography in the Late-Victorian Period, p. 254.

Choice, September, 1999, N. Allen, review of Men of Letters, Writing Lives, p. 140.

Journal of Men's Studies, fall, 2001, Clinton Machann, review of Men of Letters, Writing Lives, p. 102.

Nineteenth-Century Literature, September, 1998, p. 265.

Times Literary Supplement, June 4, 1999, Stefan Collini, review of Men of Letters, Writing Lives, p. 6.

Victorian Studies, winter, 2002, Martin A. Danahay, review of Men of Letters, Writing Lives, p. 318.

Women's History Review, winter, 2001, Laura Marcus, review of Men of Letters, Writing Lives, p. 729.