The Narrative Power of Domestic Space

The Narrative Power of Domestic Space: Metaphors for Change in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century British Women’s Writing examines how domestic environments function as active agents in nineteenth- and twentieth-century British women’s fiction. Spanning the period 1847–1985, the book argues that houses, rented rooms, hotels, boarding houses and communal dwellings are not merely settings but dynamic metaphors through which female protagonists negotiate identity, autonomy and social constraint. Drawing on architectural theory, spatial philosophy and social history, the study situates literary representations of home within wider debates about gender, class, property and modernity. Through close readings of a wide range of women writers, the monograph demonstrates how domestic space reflects moments of psychological crisis, liminality and transformation. By placing built environments at the centre of narrative analysis, it offers an original interdisciplinary framework that contributes to feminist literary criticism, spatial humanities and material culture studies.