All women writers, observed Virginia Woolf in A Room of One's Own (1928), "ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds." The prolific Behn was the first professional female writer in English; that is, she was the first to earn a living by her pen, and she managed to do so at a time when the world of letters was almost entirely dominated by men. Her role as a professional author scandalized those who knew her and those who read her, for by adopting it she broke radically from what was considered proper to her sex and exposed herself to criticism as "unladylike." But Mrs. Behn was a woman of great resilience and resourcefulness; she endured by her wits and her energy, and she possessed a considerable talent. Under circumstances more congenial to...