author
Susan Swain Madders
A 19th-century English writer with a strong connection to Norwich, she turned her love of local history into vivid books about the city's past. She is best known for blending careful research with an accessible, wandering style that invites readers to see streets, buildings, and stories together.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Weymouth in 1823, Susan Swain Madders later married financier Anthony Madders in 1842, and the couple had four children. They lived in Norwich, a city that became the focus of much of her writing.
Her best-known works include Rambles in an Old City (1853) and Fletcher's Norwich Hand-book (1857), both centered on Norwich and its history. She also wrote a novel, Mabel Owen (1859), showing that her work ranged from local guidebooks to fiction.
What makes her especially interesting today is the way she wrote about place: not just as geography, but as a living mix of history, biography, and civic memory. Her books remain appealing to readers who enjoy overlooked Victorian writers and richly detailed portraits of English city life.