Susan McKenna presents the innovative narratives of Emilia Pardo Bazn, Spains preeminent nineteenth-century female writer, in Crafting the Female Subject. Known for her novels and essays, Pardo Bazn (1851-1921) also authored more than 580 short stories, whose literary experimentation and concern for female subjectivity strikingly redefine her corpus. Breaking with the traditional limitations of the short story, Pardo Bazns themes and narrative structures investigate how women both challenged and conformed to prescribed gender roles in Spanish society.