author
Eliza Buckminster Lee
1794–1864
A 19th-century American writer who moved easily between fiction, biography, memoir, and translation, she is especially remembered for vivid sketches of New England life and for bringing German literary interests to English-language readers.
1 Audiobook
Delusion; or, The Witch of New England
by Eliza Buckminster Lee
About the author
Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Eliza Buckminster Lee came from a notably literary and religious family. Reliable reference sources describe her as the daughter of Joseph Buckminster, and note that she was educated within that intellectually active household before later marrying Thomas Lee of Boston.
She wrote across several forms, including fiction, biography, memoir, and translation. Sources consistently credit her with works such as Sketches of a New England Village, Naomi; or, Boston Two Hundred Years Ago, and memoirs connected with her father and brother, as well as translations from German.
Although some sources disagree about her exact birth year, they agree that she died in 1864. What stands out most is the range of her writing: she helped preserve family and regional history while also writing stories that captured everyday New England character and feeling.