Susanna Rowson
Susanna Rowson (born Haswell ; * 1762 in Portsmouth , England , † March 2, 1824 in Boston , Massachusetts ) was an American writer and actress .
Life
Rowson, whose mother had died in childbirth, came to live with her father, Lieutenant William Haswell , in Massachusetts in 1766 , where he lived with his second wife. During the American Revolutionary War , the family was sent back to London in 1778. Here Rowson worked as a tutor and began writing poetry, short stories and novels. Her first publication was Victoria, a Samuel Richardson- style sentimental novel dedicated to the Duchess of Devonshire .
In 1786 she married William Rowson , who worked as a hardware dealer . After business failure, the couple went to the theater and joined Thomas Wignell's drama troupe . With this Rowson came to America again in 1793, where her reputation as a writer had already reached. The first American edition of her novel Charlotte Temple sold out immediately in 1794 and was reprinted twice in the same year. It had about two hundred editions and was read by about half a million people. Her song America, Commerce and Freedom was also very popular .
She gave up acting and founded Mrs. Rowson's Young Ladies' Academy in Boston in 1797 , where she also worked as a playwright and columnist for Boston Weekly Magazine . A sequel to her successful novel was published posthumously in 1828 under the title Charlotte's Daughter: or, The Three Orphans (also: Lucy Temple ).
Works
- Victoria: A Novel , 1786
- Charlotte, a Tale of Truth , 1791
- Mentoria, or the Young Ladies' Friend , 1791
- Rebecca, or, The Fille de Chambre , 1792
- Charlotte Temple , 1794
- Trials of the Human Heart , 1795
- The Volunteers , 1795
- Reuben and Rachel, or Tales of Old Times , 1798
- Sarah , 1813
- Charlotte's Daughter: or, The Three Orphans , posth. 1828
Web links
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rowson, Susanna |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Haswell, Susanna (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American writer and actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1762 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Portsmouth , England , UK |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 2, 1824 |
| Place of death | Boston , Massachusetts , United States |