Holme Lee

Born Harriet Parr in York on January 31, 1828, she wrote under the pseudonym Holme Lee. Before finding literary success, she worked as a governess, and that close knowledge of domestic life and social expectations helped shape the world of her fiction.

Her first novel, Maude Talbot, appeared in 1854, and she went on to publish many more novels and stories over the following decades. She also wrote for children, and her work was part of the rich, busy world of Victorian popular fiction.

Parr never married and remained closely associated with the name Holme Lee throughout her career. She died at Shanklin on the Isle of Wight on February 18, 1900, leaving behind a substantial body of fiction that reflects the manners, relationships, and emotional texture of her time.