Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells

According to Wikipedia: Ann Veronica is a novel by H.G. Wells first published in 1909. The book deals with contemporary political issues of the time, concentrating specifically on feminist issues. In the course of the action the heroine matures from an innocent and naïve girl to a representative of the New Woman. Wells portrays the attitudes of Edwardian England, in particular those of the heroines father and boyfriends who are completely unable to understand why a woman should want to be independent, study science, have the right to vote, and so on. These male chauvinists are not portrayed as bad people, but as men blinkered by the education of the time. Ann Veronica created a sensation when published, due both to the feminist sensibilities of the heroine, and to the similarity of her name to that of Amber Reeves, a woman with whom Wells was rumored to be having an affair.