ABSTRACT
Clearly, any endeavour to locate Hesba Stretton’s writings within the context of their times entails a recognition that the author’s life forms part of, and is dependent on, that context. This chapter does not aim to present a comprehensive biographical picture; rather, it is concerned with exploring aspects of Stretton’s life and work within the framework of the major personal and cultural preoccupations which shape her writings, not least the areas of gender, motherhood, relations of power, and themes of exclusion and otherness. Accordingly, an approach which is thematic and circular rather than rigidly chronological, but which reflects changes and developments, proves enlightening.
