Margaret Wolfe Hungerford

Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, née Hamilton, (27 April 1855 – 24 January 1897), was an Irish novelist whose light romantic fiction was popular throughout the English-speaking world in the late 19th century. Many of her works were published under the pseudonym "The Duchess".

Biography She was born in County Cork, Ireland on 27 April 1855. Her father was Canon Fitzjohn Stannus Hamilton, rector and vicar-choral at St. Faughnan's cathedral in Rosscarbery. As a child she enjoyed creating stories, and she won prizes for her writing at school. She was educated at Portarlington College.

In 1872, she married Edward Argles, a Dublin solicitor, who died less than six years later. They had three daughters. To support the fatherless family, she wrote her first novel, Phyllis. Soon after its favourable reception, she wrote Molly Bawn, which became her best-known book.

She married Thomas Henry Hungerford, of Cahirmore, in 1882. They had two sons and a daughter. They resided at St. Brenda's, Bandon, County Cork. By contemporary accounts, Margaret enjoyed country life and was an avid gardener. She rarely travelled far from home. She was one of the few women in Victorian times who was both a prolific author and mother of a sizeable family.

She died at Bandon of typhoid fever on 24 January 1897.

Writing

She approached her writing methodically, setting aside three hours every morning for it. The room where she did her writing had neatly organised manuscripts at her desk, surrounded by many reference works, novels, and other books.

Her books were first published anonymously, and later as by "Mrs. Hungerford". In the United States, her books were mostly published under the pen name "The Duchess". Some of her early books were published by William Tinsley, a major publisher at the time.

Often writing on commission, she wrote many novels, short stories, and newspaper articles. Her books continued selling as fast as she could write them.

Her plots follow the usual conventions of romantic novels of the day. They contain delicate love scenes that were never offensive to the ideals of Victorian morals. Her works are characterised as entertaining and charming, though usually not of great depth. She tends to have little in the way of character development, tending more towards flirtatious dialogue. She was adept at capturing the tone of her contemporary fashionable society, and sometimes used Irish settings.

Molly Bawn Hungerford's best-known novel is Molly Bawn (1878), the story of a frivolous, petulant Irish girl. She is a flirt who arouses her lover's jealousy and naively ignores social conventions. Mrs. Hungerford and this book are mentioned in chapter 18 of James Joyce's Ulysses: ...Molly bawn she gave me by Mrs Hungerford on account of the name I don't like books with a Molly in them like that one he brought me about the one from Flanders...

Molly Bawn contains Hungerford's most famous idiom: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Works

Phyllis: a Novel, 1877 Molly Bawn, 1878 Airy Fairy Lilian, 1879 Beauty's Daughters, 1880 Mrs. Geoffrey, 1881 Faith and Unfaith, 1881 Mrs. Geoffrey, 1881 Portia, or By Passions Rocked, 1882 Loys, Lord Beresford, and Other Tales, 1883 Moonshine and Marguerites, 1883 Rossmoyne, 1883 Doris, 1884 The Witching Hour, and Other Stories, 1884 (U.S.) Fortune's Wheel, and Other Stories, 1884 A Week in Killarney, 1884—reissued as Her Week's Amusement, 1886 O Tender Dolores, 1885 Mildred Trevanion, 1885 A Maiden All Forlorn, and Other Stories, 1885 In Durance Vile, and Other Stories, 1885 Dick's Sweetheart, 1885 (U.S.) Green Pastures and Grey Grief, 1885 Lady Branksmere, 1886 A Mental Struggle, 1886 The Haunted Chamber, 1886 (U.S.) Lady Valworth's Diamonds, 1886 Her Week's Amusement, 1886 A Modern Circe, 1887 The Duchess, 1887 That Last Rehearsal, 1887 Undercurrents, 1888 Marvel, 1888 The Honourable Mrs. Vereker, 1888 A Life's Remorse, 1889 A Troublesome Girl, 1889 A Born Coquette, 1890 April's Lady, 1890 A Little Rebel, 1890 Her Last Throw, 1890 A Little Irish Girl, and Other Stories, 1891 The O'Connors of Ballinahinch, 1892 A Conquering Heroine, 1892 Nor Wife Nor Maid, 1892 Lady Patty, 1892 Nora Creina, 1892 A Mad Prank, 1893 The Red House Mystery, 1893 Lady Verner's Flight, 1893 An Unsatisfactory Lover, 1894 Peter's Wife, 1894 The Hoyden, 1894 The Three Graces, 1895 A Tug of War, 1895 The Professor's Experiment, 1895 Molly Darling and Other Stories, 1895 A Lonely Girl, 1896-- (American title: A Lonely Maid) A Point of Conscience, 1896 An Anxious Moment, 1897--(Stories) Lovice, 1897 (posthumous) The Coming of Chloe, 1897 (posthumous)