author

Mary L. Code

A Victorian writer of warmly religious, family-centered fiction, she published several novels while still very young. Her life was brief and tragic, but her stories continued to circulate after her death, including Left at Home.

1 Audiobook

Left at Home

Left at Home

by Mary L. Code

About the author

Mary L. Code is generally identified as Mary Louisa Code (about 1849–1873), an Irish-born novelist associated with evangelical and Plymouth Brethren circles. She was born in Cork, the daughter of John Marsden Code and Elizabeth Code, and moved with her family to Bath after her father left the Church of England and became a Brethren minister.

She began publishing fiction in her twenties and produced several books in only a few years, including Lonely Lily, Clarie's Little Charge, The Happy Land, Wandering May, and Left at Home; or, The Heart's Resting Place. Her work is remembered for its strong religious feeling and its focus on children, home life, loss, and consolation.

Code died in July 1873 after a fall at Swallow Falls near Llandudno. Her final novel, Left at Home, appeared in 1874, after her death, and was completed by her sister.