Louisa Sidney Stanhope ( fl. 1806–1827) was an English

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

of the early 19th century. She wrote mainly

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

romances in profusion, counting as Britain's tenth most productive novelist in the 1800–1829 period. Her didactic novels were aimed mainly at younger female readers.

Delicacy and strength

A scholar notes of ''The Age We Live In'' (1809) and ''Runnemede'' (1825) (and by implication of the others) that they are didactic novels aimed at younger female readers, for it was, in Stanhope's words, "requisite to pamper the insatiate palate of romance-readers; else would the page be cast aside, and the poor author stigmatized with dullness and insipidity." Her characters maintain a balance of feminine delicacy and strength of mind.

Identification

Nothing seems known of the author personally. No evidence other than dates can identify her with Louisa Grenville (died 1829), second wife of

Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope, aka Charles Mahon, 3rd Earl Stanhope, FRS (3 August 175315 December 1816), was a British statesman, inventor, and scientist. He was the father of Lady Hester Stanhope and brother-in-law of William Pitt th ...

, from whom she separated in 1806, receiving a maintenance payment from him of £1500 a year.

Novels

*''Montbrasil Abbey: or, Maternal Trials'' (1806) *''The Bandit's Bride: or, The Maid of Saxony'' (1807) **French translation: ''L'Épouse du bandit, ou La Fille de Saxe'' (1810) **reprint: ''Rosaline; or, The Outlaw's Bride'' (1842) *''Striking Likenesses; or, The Votaries of Fashion'' (1808) *''The Age We Live In. A Novel'' (1809) *''Di Montranzo; or, The Novice of Corpus Domini. A Romance'' (1810) *''The Confessional of Valombre. A Romance'' (1812) *''Madelina. A Tale Founded on Facts'' (1814) *''Treachery; or, The Grave of Antoinette. A Romance Interspersed with Poetry'' (1815) *''The Nun of Santa Maria Di Tindaro'' (1818) *''The Crusaders. An Historical Romance, of the Twelfth Century'' (1820) – "a romance of moderate merit, but tolerably free from anachronisms" (''Monthly Review'' quoted in Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers: "40 Highlights for the ABE London Rare Book Fair, June 7–9, 2019") *''The Festival of Mora. An Historical Romance'' (1821) *''The Siege of Kenilworth. An Historical Romance'' (1824) *''Runnemede. An Ancient Legend'' (1825) *''The Seer of Tiviotdale. A Romance'' (1827) *''Sydney Beresford. A Tale of the Day'' (British Library copy dated 1835)

References

19th-century English novelists Year of death missing Year of birth missing 19th-century British women writers English romantic fiction writers {{UK-novelist-stub