Mary Robinsons A Letter to the Women of England (1799) is a radical response to the rampant anti-feminist sentiment of the late 1790s. In this work, Robinson encourages her female contemporaries to throw off the glittering shackles of custom and to claim their rightful places as the social and intellectual equals of men.

Separately published in the same year, Robinsons novel The Natural Daughter follows the story of Martha Morley, who defies her husbands authority, adopts a found infant, is barred from her husbands estate and is driven to seek work as an actress and author. The novel implicitly links and critiques domestic tyrants in England and Jacobin tyrants in France.

This edition also includes: other writings by Mary Robinson (tributes, and an excerpt from The Progress of Liberty); writings by contemporaries on women, society, and revolution; and contemporary reviews of both works.