Maria Susanna Cooper

Maria Susanna Cooper (née Bransby, 1737–1807) was an English novelist, children's author, and poet, best known for her epistolary novels. Her writing, didactic and conservative, focused on appropriate roles for daughters, wives, and mothers.

Cooper's husband Samuel died in 1800. In 1806, Cooper went to live with her eldest son, politician Robert Bransby Cooper, in Dursley, Gloucestershire. She died there on 3 July 1807.

Writing

Cooper's earliest writing was in the form of children's books published with John Newbery, though details of these publications have been lost. rather than as a professional writer or a bluestocking, she did have some degree of connection to a larger literary community. Her name routinely appeared on the subscription lists of works of other novelists, for example, and novelist Elizabeth Bonhote was a longstanding and "valued friend" who dedicated her Darnley Vale to Cooper in 1789. reissued her novels in revised editions. He also published two other works: a collection of short pieces previously published in periodicals, Moral Tales (1811), and a novel, The Wife, or, Caroline Herbert (1813).

In his introduction to his mother's Moral Tales, Robert Bransby Cooper wrote, "The entertainment and instruction of her children, [and] a sense of duty ... were [her] principal motives." Cooper's novels were indeed heavily didactic, but they also attempted to represent genuine portrayals of realistic people. and Dublin, 1762). Anonymous. The exemplary mother: or, letters between Mrs. Villars and her family. Published by a lady, from the originals in her possession. In two volumes (London and Dublin, 1769; 2nd ed. 1784 ). Anonymous. The daughter: or the history of Miss Emilia Royston, and Miss Harriet Ayres; in a series of letters. By the authoress of The exemplary mother. (London and Dublin, 1775). Anonymous. The history of Fanny Meadows. In a series of letters. By the author of The exemplary mother. (London 1775; Dublin 1776 ). Anonymous. Jane Shore to her friend: a poetical epistle. By the authoress of The exemplary mother, &c. (London, 1776). Anonymous. The Wife; or, Caroline Herbert. By the late author of the "Exemplary Mother." (London, 1813).

Etexts Letters Between Emilia and Harriet (1762) (Full text, Google; Full text, HathiTrust) Jane Shore to Her Friend (1776) (Full text, Google) The Wife (1813) (PDF, Chawton House)