A new book titled "Romantic Suburbs: Imagining Home in Greater London," by Dr. Kate Scarth, chair of L.M. Montgomery Studies and associate professor of Applied Communication, Leadership, and Culture (ACLC) at UPEI, will be launched on Friday, June 26, at 4:30 pm in Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 243.

Drawing on novels by Jane Austen, Charlotte Smith, and their contemporaries, Dr. Scarth argues that in an era before public health and urban planning policies, Romantic-period women took matters into their own hands. Women novelists of this period imagined a new suburban world where women, their families, and communities could thrive. Romanticism and women’s fiction helped shape the story of suburban development—a phenomenon that continues to influence twenty-first-century life globally.

During the event, Dr. Scarth will be in conversation with Dr. Sarah Emsley, author of "The Austens." 

Hosted by the Bookmark, the launch is free, and all are welcome. To read the full story, go to https://www.upei.ca/communications/news/2026/06/new-book-dr-kate-scarth-be-launched-upei-june-26