ABSTRACT
In seeking to understand a body of work in terms of the broad social and cultural circumstances from which it emerges, it is important to recognize that questions of publishing environment, audience and reception are fundamental considerations – part of a multifaceted process of interaction and negotiation. In the case of Hesba Stretton’s oeuvre, diverse agendas – both overt and hidden – on the part of writer, publishers and reading public are at work. As a result of the success of books such as Jessica’s First Prayer (1867) and Little Meg’s Children (1868), historians and critics have placed Stretton’s writing predominantly within the confines of juvenile evangelical fiction – and, more narrowly, of ‘waif’ literature. Closer analysis, whilst confirming the significance of these areas, reveals the deficiencies of this limited frame of reference. It is essential not to imprison Stretton’s work within too narrow a setting, or to restrict interpretative approaches. The hybrid nature of these writings renders contextualization a complex and illuminating process; the narratives are poised to burst the boundaries of accepted context, inviting us to explore crucial tensions and to speculate more imaginatively about what lies below the surface. The freedom denied to the reader of prize or reward texts in terms of choice is offered within the texts through more diffuse mechanisms than is generally acknowledged.1
