Rhoda Broughton (1840-1920), whose career spanned over fifty years, was one of the most popular writers of the late-Victorian era. She burst into literary prominence-and notoriety-in 1867, with the publication in volume form of her first two novels, Not Wisely, but Too Well and Cometh Up as a Flower. Starring respectable young women teetering on the brink of sexual fall, both books were assailed by critics as immoral and eagerly devoured by the...