Peopled with literary figures such as Tennyson, Trollope, Browning, George Eliot, Henry James and Virginia Woolf, this book provides Anne Thackeray Ritchie's complete journals written in 1864-65 and 1878, an ample selection of her most interesting letters and a number of significant letters written to her. Because only a third of each journal has been previously published, this collection presents a valuable document of Ritchie's inner life, especially the account of her response to her father's death.

This fascinating biography of Thackeray’s eccentric daughter, Anny, portrays the intricate web of her relatives and friends, among whom were the Dickens family and the Tennysons, Browning and Ruskin -- all appearing in a more personal light than seen before.

Anne Isabella, Lady Ritchie, nee Thackeray (9 June 1837 - 26 February 1919), was an English writer. She was the eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray. She was the author of several novels which were highly regarded in their time, and a central figure in the late Victorian literary scene. She is perhaps best remembered today as the custodian of her father's literary legacy, and for her short fiction placing traditional fairy tale narratives in a Victorian milieu.Life Anne Isabella Thackeray was born in London, the eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray and his wife Isabella Gethin Shawe (1816-1893). She had two younger sisters: Jane, born in 1839, who died at eight months, and Harriet Marian (1840-1875), who married Leslie Stephen in 1869. Anne, whose father called her "Anny," spent her childhood in France and England. She married her cousin Richmond Ritchie, seventeen years her junior, in 1877. The couple had two children, Hester and Billy. She was the step-aunt of Virginia Woolf who penned an obituary for her in the Times Literary Supplement. She is believed to be the inspiration for the character of Mrs. Hilbery in Woolf's Night and Day..............

IntroductionPart One: Refashioning Fairy TalesThe Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, Anne Thackeray RitchieBeauty and the Beast, Anne Thackeray RitchieThe Brown Bull of Norrowa, Maria Louisa MolesworthAmelia and the Dwarfs, Juliana Horathia EwingPart Two: SubversionsNick, Christina RossettiChristmas Crackers, Julian Horathia EwingBehind the White Brick, Frances Hodgson BurnettMelisande, or, Long and Short Division, E. NesbitFortunatus Rex amp Co., E. NesbitPart Three: A Fantasy NovelMopsa the Fairy, Jean IngelowPart Four: A Trio of AntifantasiesSpeaking Likenesses, Christina RossettiBiographical SketchesFurther Readings Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.