Duchess

Born Margaret Wolfe Hungerford in County Cork, Ireland, she published many of her books under the pen name “The Duchess.” She became one of the most widely read popular novelists of her day, especially after the success of Molly Bawn, the book most closely associated with her name.

After the early death of her first husband, she turned seriously to writing to support her family. She was known as a disciplined, prolific author, regularly setting aside time each morning to work, and she continued producing novels, short stories, and articles throughout her short career.

Her fiction was especially admired for its light romantic tone, sparkling dialogue, and vivid sense of late-Victorian social life, sometimes with Irish settings. She died in 1897 at just 41, but her books remained popular well after her lifetime.