Frances Burney (1752–1840) was the most successful female novelist of the eighteenth century. Her first novel Evelina was a publishing sensation; her follow-up novels Cecilia and Camilla were regarded as among the best fiction of the time and were much admired by Jane Austen. Burney's life was equally remarkable: a protegee of Samuel Johnson, lady-in-waiting at the court of George III, later wife of an emigre aristocrat and stranded in France during the Napoleonic Wars, she lived on into the reign of Queen Victoria. Her journals and letters are now widely read as a rich source of information about the Court, social conditions and cultural changes over her long lifetime. This Companion is the first volume to cover all her works, including her novels, plays, journals and letters, in a comprehensive and accessible way. It also includes discussion of her critical reputation, and a guide to further reading.

"The Companion[...]provides a broad variety of perspectives on and approaches to Burney's life, time, and works, and it thus a valuable resource not only to students but also to more experienced scholars (re-)discovering the diaries, novels, and plays of Frances Burney. Even dedicated Burneyites will find a lot of juicy matter to sink their teeth in..."
-Mascha Gemmeke, University of Greifswald, The Eighteenth-Century Intelligencer