This book explores the richness of women's contribution to Scottish literature. By combining historical spread with a thematic structure, this volume explores the ways in which gender has shaped literary output and addresses the changing situations in which women lived and wrote. It places the work of established writers such as Margaret Oliphant, Naomi Mitchison and A.L. Kennedy in new contexts and discusses the writing of critically neglected figures such as Sileas na Ceapaich, Mary Queen of Scots, Anne Grant, Janet Hamilton, Isabella Bird, F. Marion McNeill and Denise Mina. It includes innovative scholarship from leading critics of gender and Scottish Studies, such as Sarah Dunnigan (Edinburgh), Carol Anderson (Open University), Pam Perkins (Manitoba) and Florence Boos (Iowa). It responds to current developments in the field of feminist and literary studies. It includes a guide to further reading for each chapter.