Jane West (novelist) facts for kids
Jane West (born Iliffe, 1758–1852) was an English writer. She wrote many books, poems, and educational guides. She used pen names like Prudentia Homespun and Mrs. West.
Contents
About Her Life
Jane West was born in London in 1758. When she was eleven, her family moved to Desborough in Northamptonshire.
By 1783, she married Thomas West. He was a farmer from Little Bowden, Leicestershire. They had three sons: Thomas, John, and Edward.
In 1800, Jane West wrote to a famous writer named Thomas Percy. She told him she taught herself to write. She also said she loved poetry from a young age. He helped her connect with other writers. She even visited him in 1810. She also wrote letters to Sarah Trimmer. Jane West wrote poems praising other women writers. These included Elizabeth Carter, Charlotte Smith, and Anna Seward.
Her Ideas and Writings
Jane West's writing often shared traditional ideas. She liked to teach lessons through her stories. But she strongly believed that girls and women should get more education.
Her books often shared ideas that were different from the big changes happening in politics at the time. For example, her book A Tale of the Times (1799) was against the ideas of the Jacobins. These were people who wanted big, fast changes in government. Her book The Infidel Father (1802) spoke out against atheism, which is not believing in God.
One of her advice books, Letters to a Young Lady, shared different ideas from Mary Wollstonecraft's famous book Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). Even though some called her writing "strong," many people liked her books. They found them "improving," meaning they taught good lessons. For example, her book Letters to a Young Man (1801) was printed six times by 1818.
Her poems appeared in magazines and collections. She wrote for the Gentleman's Magazine for a long time. However, her plays were not as popular.
Jane West once said she thought her home duties were more important than writing. She said, "My needle always claims the pre-eminence of my pen. I hate the name of 'rhyming slattern.'" This meant she put sewing and housework first. But she also worked hard to become a successful writer.
She passed away in Little Bowden when she was 94 years old. By then, she felt that her ideas were not as popular as they used to be.
Her Published Works
Fiction Books
- The Advantages of Education, or The History of Maria Williams (as "Prudentia Homespun", 1793)
- A Gossip's Story, and a Legendary Tale (as "Prudentia Homespun", 1796)
- A Tale of the Times (1799)
- The Infidel Father (1802)
- The Refusal (1810)
- The Loyalists: an Historical Novel (1812)
- Alicia de Lacy: an Historical Romance (1814)
- Ringrove, or, Old Fashioned Notions (1827)
- The Sorrows of Selfishness (a story for children, as "Prudentia Homespun")
Advice Books
- Letters to a Young Man (1801)
- Letters to a Young Lady (1806)
Poetry Books
- Miscellaneous Poetry, Written at an Early Period of Life (1786)
- The Humours of Brighthelmstone: a Poem (1788)
- Miscellaneous Poems, and a Tragedy(as Edmund, York, 1791)
- An Elegy on the Death of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke (1797)
- Poems and Plays (1799 and 1805)
- The Mother: a Poem in Five Books (1799)
Other Writings
- Select Translations of the Beauties of Massillon (1812)
- Scriptural Essays Adapted to the Holy Days of the Church of England (1816)
