Writer. Although overshadowed by the achievements of her father (the composer and music historian Charles Burney) and sister Frances (who wrote as Fanny Burney), Sarah was a more than competent author in her own right. During a colorful lifetime of vicissitude, which managed to include an odd elopement with her brother James, she managed to produce the novels Clarentine, Geraldine Fauconberg, Traits of Nature, and Tales of Fancy. Her first novel, Clarentine, was published in 1796, the same year that her sister published her third novel Camilla. Although her work, a novel of manners, was not well received by her father, her novels influenced Jane Austen's works. Her second work, Geraldine Fauconberg, an epistolary novel, was also commonly read. Her third work, Traits of Nature, was a major success, with the first edition selling out in four months. This work explores many aspects of life in the early 1800s and also draws parallels to her sister's work Cecilia (1782). Her next work, Tales of Fancy was well received and honored her with a congratulatory sonnet from Charles Lamb. She spent time in Florence where she mixed with a circle of artists and authors, but ended her life suffering from rheumatism and shuttling between the spa towns of Bath and Cheltenham, presumably for their therapeutic waters.
Writer. Although overshadowed by the achievements of her father (the composer and music historian Charles Burney) and sister Frances (who wrote as Fanny Burney), Sarah was a more than competent author in her own right. During a colorful lifetime of vicissitude, which managed to include an odd elopement with her brother James, she managed to produce the novels Clarentine, Geraldine Fauconberg, Traits of Nature, and Tales of Fancy. Her first novel, Clarentine, was published in 1796, the same year that her sister published her third novel Camilla. Although her work, a novel of manners, was not well received by her father, her novels influenced Jane Austen's works. Her second work, Geraldine Fauconberg, an epistolary novel, was also commonly read. Her third work, Traits of Nature, was a major success, with the first edition selling out in four months. This work explores many aspects of life in the early 1800s and also draws parallels to her sister's work Cecilia (1782). Her next work, Tales of Fancy was well received and honored her with a congratulatory sonnet from Charles Lamb. She spent time in Florence where she mixed with a circle of artists and authors, but ended her life suffering from rheumatism and shuttling between the spa towns of Bath and Cheltenham, presumably for their therapeutic waters.
Bio by: Mark McManus
Family Members
Advertisement
See more Burney memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
