The Coming Race

Terrible book, of no merit whatsoever. I started reading it because of an article about a very early SF convention at the Albert Hall in London in 1891.
https://boingboing.net/2018/10/04/the-coming-race.html

If you have ever watched a film by Ed Wood (“Plan 9” or “Glen or Glenda”), this is the literary equivalent. It consists mostly of long lectures using page long sentences on minor points of the Vril-Ya culture.
There are brief moments of plot but these are quickly dispensed with so we can learn more about the use of child labor (besides being used as servants, the children go around with horrifyingly powerful weapons), farming practices and social structures.
There is also a lot about the apparently shocking aspect of their culture (referred to as the rights of women) which is that women initiate and control romantic relationships. But after getting married, they put aside all their own interests and devote all their efforts to the happiness of their husbands.
Because according to the author, a supportive and submissive wife is the basis of a happy family.

I finished it just to see how it came out. The best I can recommend is read a few pages just to see how bad it is and then go on to anything else. This book is available on gutenberg.org so you should not spend any money on this.