Constance Howell (fl. 1877-1900) was a socialist and political novelist.
Career Howell was a socialist and her novels had a political dimension. Like contemporary political novelists, such as Clementina Black and Margaret Harkness, Howell's novels sometimes suffered from political critique. Her most well-known novel was A More Excellent Way (1888), which is thought to be semi-autobiographical. It recounts the "counter-conversion" of the protagonist Agatha Hathaway away from her upper class upbringing and Christianity and towards freethought and socialism. It was reviewed harshly in The Spectator, and To-day: Monthly Magazine of Scientific Socialism wrote that:
Howell also wrote a series of three books for children during the 1880s, which explained elements of Western religious history from a critical freethinking perspective and all shared the subtitle "Written for Young Freethinkers". These were: Biography of Jesus Christ (1883), The After Life of the Apostles (1884) and History of the Jews (1885).
Identity Howell's dates of birth and death are currently unknown.
Select publications
Daisy and the Earl: A Novel (1877) Biography of Jesus Christ (1883) The After Life of the Apostles (1884) History of the Jews (1885) A More Excellent Way (1888) Many Days After: A Novel (1900)
References