Kelly (née Fordyce), Isabella

Abstract

Isabella Kelly (c.1759–1857) was a Scottish poet and Gothic novelist affiliated with the Minerva Press in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Her one book of poetry, A Collection of Poems and Fables, was first published in 1794, with a second edition following in 1807. Kelly’s reputation as a writer was cemented by the ten Gothic novels published under her name between 1794 and 1813. In many ways, Kelly’s eventful life, which was filled with tragedy, poverty, and disappointment, mirrored the storylines of her persecuted female characters; nevertheless, the high positions of many of the personages on the list of subscribers for several of her novels demonstrate that she was well-connected. Her highest-profile connection in the literary world was with Matthew “Monk” Lewis, whose patronage of her family was generous – though more generous, perhaps, than his feelings about her novels (Peck 1961; Macdonald 2000). Later in her writing career, Kelly moved away from fiction and toward educational writings for children, including a French grammar (1805a) and a book of Instructive Anecdotes for Youth (1819). Her Memoir of the Late Mrs. Henrietta Fordyce, detailing the author’s visit with the widow of her kinsman Dr. James Fordyce, was published anonymously in 1823. Although as a novelist she has typically been dismissed as a mere imitator of Ann Radcliffe – and as a poet, she has been largely ignored – more recent work on Kelly explores the ways in which her poetry and prose highlight the concerns of married women with children (Raisanen 2016; Shapira 2019).