author

Mary Jary Gurney

1829–1872

A little-known Victorian novelist, she is associated with Mrs. Gurney's Apology, a 19th-century work of domestic fiction. Surviving public information about her is sparse, which gives her writing an added air of mystery.

1 Audiobook

Mrs. Gurney's apology : In justification of Mrs. ——'s friendship

Mrs. Gurney's apology : In justification of Mrs. ——'s friendship

by Mary Jary Gurney

About the author

Mary Jary Gurney lived from 1829 to 1872 and appears to have been an English writer remembered today chiefly for Mrs. Gurney's Apology. Publicly available biographical detail is limited, so much of her life remains only lightly documented.

She is also linked in historical records to Harptree Court in Somerset, which was bought by a Miss Gurney in 1858. That does not by itself fill in the whole story of her life, but it places her within the world of 19th-century English society reflected in the fiction associated with her name.

Because so little has been widely preserved about her, her reputation now rests less on a famous public profile than on the survival of her work. For audiobook listeners, that can be part of the appeal: a chance to discover a Victorian author whose voice has outlasted the details of her biography.