Amy Levy

Amy Judith Levy (10 November 1861 – 9 September 1889) was an English essayist, poet, and novelist. One of the first Jewish students at both Cambridge University and Newnham College, she wrote on the situation of Jews in Europe and the challenges facing women who sought independence in male-dominated society. She maintained close relationships with other women living what would be called a "New Woman" life, some of whom were lesbians.

Biography

Early life and education Levy was born in Clapham, an affluent district of London, on 10 November 1861, to Lewis and Isobel Levy. She was the second of seven children born into a Jewish family with a "casual attitude toward religious observance", who sometimes attended a Reform synagogue in Upper Berkeley Street, Both women went on to explore the themes of sapphic love in their works. Lee inspired Levy's poem "To Vernon Lee".

Literary career The Romance of a Shop (1888), Levy's first novel, is regarded as an early "New Woman" novel and depicts four sisters who experience the difficulties and opportunities afforded to women running a business in 1880s London. Levy wrote her second novel, Reuben Sachs (1888), to fill the literary need for "serious treatment ... of the complex problem of Jewish life and Jewish character", which she identified and discussed in a 1886 article "The Jew in Fiction."

Sexuality Levy remains a topic of discussion amongst scholars in terms of whether or not she is to be considered a Victorian Lesbian writer. She had sent several poems to her friend Violet Paget, also known as Vernon Lee, confessing her love. These poems include her famous works "To Vernon Lee" and "New Love, New Life." Both of these pieces express messages of unrequited love to another woman. Scholars continue to debate if these gestures were that of friendship or intense passion.

Death Levy experienced episodes of major depression from an early age. In her later years, her depression worsened in connection to her distress surrounding her romantic relationships and her awareness of her growing deafness. On 9 September 1889, Oscar Wilde wrote an obituary for her in The Women's World in which he praised her gifts. The first Jewish woman to be cremated in England, her ashes were buried at Balls Pond Road Cemetery in London.

Legacy In 1993, Melyvn New produced a compilation of Levy's works, published as The Complete Novels and Selected Writings of Amy Levy: 1861–1889. On November 13, 2025, University of Cambridge announced that they had acquired and unsealed Levy's personal archive, which includes letters, draft manuscripts, photographs and diary entries. The collection was previously owned by a private corporation.

Selected works Xantippe and Other Verse (1881) A Minor Poet and Other Verse (1884) The Romance of a Shop (1888) novel (republished in 2005 by Black Apollo Press) Reuben Sachs: A Sketch (1888) (republished in 2001 by Persephone Books) A London Plane-Tree and Other Verse (1889) Miss Meredith (1889; a novel) The Complete Novels and Selected Writings of Amy Levy: 1861–1889 (1993) The Collected Poems (Sublunary Editions, 2023) Amy Levy: Collected Writings (Library of the Jewish People, 2023)