George Eliot’s masterpiece Middlemarch features the newlywed heroine Dorothea, who travels to Rome in anticipation of life serving as a companion to her scholarly husband, Casaubon. Instead, she finds it necessary to channel her interests into developing a friendship with his less selfish cousin, Will Ladislaw, whom she eventually marries. These events occur in Italy, where Eliot’s heroine seeks a life that blends intellect with passion in pursuit of personal and professional goals. Likewise, Italy offered British women a place to satisfy their curiosity about life beyond the confines of the British Isles and to find a sanctuary, a site of respite, safety, joy, and inspiration. This collection identifies parallel pathways and trends in the lives of courageous British women by exploring their letters, journals, books, artifacts, and other publications produced from their Italian travels. Their experiences and written words provided new precedents for those who followed.