author

Mrs. (Elizabeth) Bonhote

1744–1818

An English novelist, essayist, and poet from Suffolk, she is best remembered for Bungay Castle, a Gothic romance inspired by the real castle her family owned. Her writing moves easily between fiction, moral reflection, and poetry, giving a lively glimpse of late eighteenth-century reading tastes.

1 Audiobook

Bungay Castle: A Novel. v. 1/2

Bungay Castle: A Novel. v. 1/2

by Mrs. (Elizabeth) Bonhote

About the author

Born Elizabeth Mapes in Bungay, Suffolk, and baptised on 11 April 1744, she later married Daniel Bonhôte, a solicitor and landowner, in 1772. The couple had three children, and much of her life remained closely tied to Bungay, the town that also shaped her best-known work.

She published across several forms, including novels, essays, and verse. Her books include The Rambles of Mr. Frankley, The Fashionable Friend, Olivia, Darnley Vale, Ellen Woodley, The Parental Monitor, and the poetry collection Feeling. Her most successful title was Bungay Castle, a Gothic novel connected to the ruins of the real Bungay Castle, which her husband had purchased.

Her work blends the moral and domestic concerns popular in the late eighteenth century with a taste for romance and atmosphere. Though not as widely known today as some of her contemporaries, she remains an interesting figure for readers exploring women’s writing and Gothic fiction of the period.