Anne Manning

Anne Manning was an English novelist born in London on February 17, 1807, and she died at Tunbridge Wells on September 14, 1879. She was a prolific Victorian writer, credited with more than 50 works, and she is often remembered for historical fiction that tried to make famous lives and households feel intimate and human.

She began by publishing nonfiction, then moved into fiction with Village Belles. Her best-known success was The Maiden and Married Life of Mary Powell, afterwards Mistress Milton, first published anonymously in 1849 and later commonly called Mary Powell. Another of her notable books, The Household of Sir Thomas More, presents More's family life through the voice of his daughter Margaret. Several of her works first appeared in serial form before being issued as books.

Contemporary and later reference works describe her style as somewhat antiquated, but also praise its literary charm and delicate historical imagination. That combination helps explain her lasting appeal: she wrote historical novels not as grand pageants, but as lived-in stories centered on home, character, and feeling.