Hannah More: The First Victorian

by Anne Stott

Hannah More was a public figure at a time when domesticity was regarded as women's chief virtue. Her career as playwright, bluestocking, Evangelical educationalist, anti-slavery campaigner, political writer, and novelist made her one of the most influential women of her day. This is the first substantial biography of More for fifty years and the first to make extensive use of her unpublished correspondence. Anne Stott reveals her as a more lively and attractive character than previous stereotypes have suggested. She demonstrates that More was a complex and contradictory a conservative who was accused of political and religious subversion, an ostensible antifeminist who opened up new opportunities for female activism.

Genres: Biography

420 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 2003

Reviews

[Andrew Kooman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful read on an important literary figure too much overlooked or misunderstood.

[Rachel Knowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne Stott’s book is a comprehensive and very readable biography of Hannah More. It follows More’s life from her humble beginnings through to her success as a bluestocking writer and on to her work as a moral reformer after her conversion to evangelical Christianity. It was fascinating to read of all the people whom More came into contact with - Garrick, Wilberforce, Johnson, the Duchess of Gloucester to name but a few.

The book does not attempt to skip over More’s shortcomings but it also brings out her sense of humour. Her unedited writings are peppered with comments that you would not expect to see in the writings of a straitlaced evangelical at the eve of the Victorian age. There was probably more detail than I felt I needed about More’s various publications, but that was a personal preference.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a full account of the life and works of Hannah More.