"A compelling and refreshing study of the role of Paris in Irish women's literary imaginations, ranging from Edgeworth and Owenson to Somerville and Ross and Thurston. Through a series of elegantly argued readings, Reznicek valuably extends our understanding of both the urban and female spheres, and of the particular appeal and anxieties that characterize the emerging metropolitan modern." --Margaret Kelleher, Chair of Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama, University College Dublin "In this highly original and engaging study of Irish women's writing, Reznicek provides a fresh and vigorous account of the development of the female Bildungsroman during the long nineteenth century. Drawing upon an adroit selection of canonical and lesser-known fictions, The European Metropolis generates a dynamic analysis that rigorously reconceptualizes the key texts and contexts informing Irish literary production in this period." --Sonja Lawrenson, Manchester Metropolitan University.