@article { , title = {Childhood disrupted : Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s unfinished autobiography Before the knowledge of evil}, abstract = {As Mary Jean Corbett in Representing Femininity (1992), Linda Peterson in Traditions of Victorian Women’s Autobiography (1999) and David Amigoni in Life Writing and Victorian Culture (2006) have all noted, Victorian women could write about their lives in several ways: autobiographies, diaries, letters, journals, memoirs and disguised within their fiction. Braddon utilised several of these options, including diaries between the years 1880-1914 and an autobiographical account of her childhood that she tellingly entitled ‘Before the Knowledge of Evil’ (Reel 1).1 She began writing this account in 1914, but after one hundred and eighty-five pages of typescript she had only reached the age of nine; presumably she was going to continue to write her entire life history, but she died before its completion. Autobiographies can be used in several ways, and Braddon’s account will be discussed as an example of Victorian women’s autobiography of childhood; as a snapshot of history in the 1830-40s; as an exploration of the inner psychology of a child; as revealing Braddon’s nostalgia for a time past; and finally to explore how she makes a case for a child’s right to have a childhood.}, issn = {1746-5621}, issue = {10}, journal = {Peer English}, note = {Article has no doi.}, pages = {11-25}, publicationstatus = {Published}, url = {https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/379147}, keyword = {Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth), 1835-1915. Before the knowledge of evil, Autobiography, Victorian childhood, Women novelists}, year = {2015}, author = {Hatter, Janine} }