title: The Spinster and the Prophet: H.G. Wells, Florence Deeks, and the Case of the Plagiarized Text
author:  A.B. McKillop 
description: When, in 1920, Florence Deeks finally received her rejected manuscript a feminist history of the world from Macmillan after eight months, she couldn't understand why it appeared in such bad condition, the pages worn, torn and dog-eared. Later that year, when she read H.G. Wells's new book, The Outline of History, published by Macmillan, she felt a chill. There were so many similarities to her own work: shared themes, organization, word choice, even the same mistakes. Florence made a dramatic decision she would sue Wells and his publisher for plagiarism. Years later, after a series of failed appeals, this reserved, dignified Toronto woman tried to bring her case to the king of England. It is a compelling story, part mystery, part legal thriller, always sympathetic to the intrepid Deeks, a woman trying to get a fair hearing in a man's world. McKillop's narrative directly challenges earlier accounts of Deeks v. Wells, which were all too eager to paint the plaintiff as a frustrated, obsessed spinster. The result is a wonderfully complex portrait of the two protagonists: Deeks, a shy, earnest, lionhearted woman; Wells, a bold, sexually promiscuous literary giant. The author handles the dual story line brilliantly, weaving together two opposing characters into one altogether gripping tale of literary theft. Photos. (Oct. 1) Forecast: Short-listed for several Canadian prizes and warmly received in Britain, this should be widely reviewed here and will appeal to readers of literary history and of women's history and, more broadly, to the kind of readers who flocked to The Professor and the Madman. <br />Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  **Saint Joan of Arc**
  
  
  **John Beevers**
  
  
  
  
  
  _Nihil Obstat: Gall Higgins_ , O.F.M. _Cap.  
  
  
  Censor Librorum_
  
  
  _Imprimatur:_ **✠** _Francis Cardinal Spellman  
  
  
  Archbishop of New York  
  
  
  July_ 27, 1959
  
  
  The nihil obstat and imprimatur are official declarations that a book or
  pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained
  therein that those who have granted the nihil obstat and imprimatur agree with
  the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.
  
  
  Copyright © 1959 by Doubleday & Company, Inc.
  
  
  Copyright © 1974 by TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.
  
  
  TAN BOOKS  
  
  
  Charlotte, North Carolina
  
  
  1981
  
  
  
  
  
  CONTENTS
  
  
  [1\. The Girl](part0004.html#page_11)
  
  
  [2\. She Sets Out](part0006.html#page_33)
  
  
  [3\. The King](part0008.html#page_45)
  
  
  [4\. The Victory](part0010.html#page_63)
  
  
  [5\. The Capture](part0012.html#page_89)
  
  
  [6\. The Trial and the Fire](part0014.html#page_115)
  
  
  [7\. The Vindication](part0016.html#page_175)
  
  
  [8\. The Saint](part