This book investigates the evolution of the English novel during the 1840s, questioning how contemporary critical reception and specific literary works established the novel as the dominant cultural form of the Victorian era. Kathleen Tillotson, a distinguished scholar of Victorian literature, utilizes a combination of close textual analysis and historical research into nineteenth-century critical discourse. She argues that the 1840s served as a pivotal decade where the structural and thematic expectations of the novel were codified by both authors and their contemporary reviewers.

Scholars frequently cite this work as a foundational text for understanding the development of the Victorian novel. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous framework for studying the intersection of literary production and critical reception in the nineteenth century.