" Written for the audience it portrays, The Excursion introduces the heroine, Maria Villiers, to London's ""gentle"" society and its glittering pastimes. For her novel's overarching plot structure, Brooke drew upon the English courtship novel in the tradition of Eliza Haywood, Henry Fielding, and Frances Burney. But instead of concentrating on Maria's romantic adventures, she experiments with unusual treatments of subplots and unconventional characters. This is one of the few portraits of a woma
" Written for the audience it portrays, The Excursion introduces the heroine, Maria Villiers, to London's ""gentle"" society and its glittering pastimes. For her novel's overarching plot structure, Brooke drew upon the English courtship novel in the tradition of Eliza Haywood, Henry Fielding, and Frances Burney. But instead of concentrating on Maria's romantic adventures, she experiments with unusual treatments of subplots and unconventional characters. This is one of the few portraits of a woma
