My first book project, Divorcing the Rake: Male Sexual Conduct in Domestic Fiction, explores how authors of domestic novels from Richardson to Austen characterized men’s pre- and extra-marital sex. Looking at narratives of adultery, bigamy, and divorce, I argue that novels from the latter half of the long eighteenth century promoted sympathetic attitudes towards men’s sexual misconduct that were not afforded to women. Specifically, this project shows how popular fiction from this period implicitly naturalized an abundance of male sexual passion, widening the divide in gendered perceptions of sexual desire. You can hear me talk more about my research on WAMC’s The Academic Minute here.

My research has been supported by two fellowships from The Huntington Library: the first to conduct archival research on site in San Marino, CA, and the second to explore parliamentary divorce records in London. In 2025, I also received the International Visitor Fellowship from the Jane Austen Society of North America, which allowed me to conclude the archival research for this book in Chawton, UK. Pieces of this project have been published in ELH, Eighteenth-Century Fiction, and Persuasions.