Twenty-five books by women authors who published under male pseudonyms will be reissued under their real names, The Guardian reports.
The release of the books is part of a campaign called “Reclaim Her Name,” the brainchild of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and Baileys, the liquor brand that sponsors the award, in honor of the 25th anniversary of the prize.
“Throughout history, many female writers have used male pen names for their work to be published or taken seriously,” Baileys says on a webpage for the campaign. “In collaboration with the Women’s Prize for Fiction, we have put their real names on the front of their work for the first time to honor their achievements and give them the credit they deserve.
The most prominent book to be reissued is George Eliot’s Middlemarch, which will be published under Eliot’s real name, Mary Ann Evans. Other books the campaign plans to rerelease include George Sand’s Indiana (under the name Amantine Aurore Dupin) and George Fleming’s The Head of Medusa (under the name Julia Fletcher).
Not everyone thinks the project is a good idea. On Twitter, author Lucy Powrie wrote, “In trying to ‘reclaim her name,’ this campaign ultimately erases the autonomy of the authors included and ignores how they chose to present themselves. It very much forces a single narrative.”
And A.N. Devers, proprietor of London bookstore The Second Shelf, tweeted, “Reclaim for who exactly? What if they took a man’s name because of their gender preference? I’m all for finding ways of highlighting women’s work that has been overlooked. But this project is presumptuous.”
Baileys is offering all of the reissued books for free in an electronic format. The company says it plans to donate box sets to libraries in the U.K.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
