Rhoda Broughton
Rhoda Broughton (29 November 1840 – 5 June 1920) was a Welsh-born novelist and short‑story writer who became one of the most prominent figures in late 19th‑century English literature. Her early books were known for sensational twists, but she later produced stronger, more thoughtful work that critics often overlooked. She earned the nickname “queen of the circulating libraries” for her popularity with readers.
Born in Denbigh, North Wales, Broughton was the granddaughter of the 8th Broughton baronet and a niece of the writer Sheridan le Fanu, who helped start her career. She grew up with a love of literature, especially poetry, and admired Shakespeare. Her first novel quickly followed after she was inspired by Thackeray Ritchie’s works. Le Fanu introduced her to publishers; although one early manuscript was rejected for being “improper,” her second was published, launching her long writing career. She also helped introduce Mary Cholmondeley to publishers.
Over about thirty years, Broughton published 14 novels, many in the popular three‑volume format. After a commercial flop with a work titled Alas!, she began writing shorter, one‑volume novels, which proved to be her strongest and most enduring work. In the late 1890s Macmillan took over Bentley, and she continued writing for them for a time. Later, she moved to Stanley, Paul & Co. Her last novel, A Fool in Her Folly (1920), appeared after her death and is thought to reflect some autobiographical elements. She spent her final years at Headington Hill near Oxford, where she died in 1920 at the age of 79. A blue plaque honoring her home was unveiled in Headington Hill in 2020.
Broughton never married and often lived with her sister Eleanor Newcome. She had friendships and quarrels within her circle of contemporaries. She was a long‑time friend of Henry James and is said to have clashed with Lewis Carroll and Oscar Wilde. James visited her often in London, and she remained a significant figure in literary circles until the end of her life.
Her novels frequently explored women’s lives and rights, challenging traditional ideas of femininity. Dear Faustina (1897) is noted for its homoerotic undertones and its portrayal of a New Woman who questions social conventions. Lavinia (1902) features a young man who wishes he had been born a woman, exploring ideas of gender and masculinity. Other works, such as The Game and the Candle (1899), have been read as mature rewritings of classic stories, often focusing on love, duty, and moral choices. A Beginner (1894) examines the pressures on a young woman who writes romance and faces moral scrutiny; Scylla or Charybdis? (1895) looks at a mother’s secret past and its impact on her son.
Broughton’s writing contributed to a broader conversation about women’s roles in society. Some critics praised her as the leading woman novelist in England between George Eliot’s death and Virginia Woolf’s rise. Somerset Maugham even joked about how readers’ opinions of her work changed with age, yet she kept writing with the same sharp eye for social norms. Her legacy endures in her strong, modern portrayal of women and in the way her stories engaged with readers through the circulating libraries.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:38 (CET).