In her literary analysis of around 80 books by women writers, Spacks looks at how women express female experience. How does being a woman shape imagination? She discusses how struggles with balancing altruism and personal fulfillment are expressed in novels by Jane Austen and Mrs. Gaskell, as well as in the Little Women series by Louisa May Alcott. She looks at adolescence as expressed by Austen, Burney, and Bronte, as women do or do not learn to accept their subordinate place in society. She finds common themes across cultures and in a variety of situations as women find their own paths to freedom. Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 1975. Hb,dj. USED. $9.00