Description

By: Adele Mallen

This is a sensitively written and meticulously researched biography. Its great affinity with its subject shines through, bringing to life a woman who should be remembered as one of those who set the precedent for women taking an active part in the arts and sciences. Elizabeth Cobbold, contemporary of Jane Austen, proved that women could take the stage in public life, be creative and respected for it. Novelist, poet, artist and scientist, she was also known for her philanthropy. This faithful account of her story helps to place her alongside the scant female contemporaries of whom we have heard, and nuance the general assumption that only a very few women could make their mark in the 1700s.

Dr Kate Kennedy, Writer and Broadcaster, Associate Director, Oxford Centre for Life-Writing

Adele Mallen has an interest in eighteenth century literature and has published articles on this period. She has been particularly drawn to the life of Elizabeth Cobbold who she regards as a highly talented lady, who like so many other women of the time appears to have been disregarded in history. Adele feels that a re-examination of Elizabeth Cobbold’s contribution to the feminist position at this time is long overdue.