Charlotte Dempster
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In a writing career that lasted almost thirty years of the later nineteenth century,
published six novels, numerous essays (some of which she re-issued in a collection), a travel-narrative, a cookbook, and a devotional book. Her memoir appeared posthumously and her letters are at the
. Her essays often deal with the lives, letters, or memoirs of notable public figures, and her novels deal with issues of class and poverty, public and private obligations, and marital relations, in a wide range of settings.
Biography
Because Charlotte's parents were cousins, Dempster was the surname both of her mother and of her paternal grandmother: that is, of both her immediate female forebears. Her family adopted this naming practice (Charlotte's sister also used the surname Dempster) because of the last will and testament of
,
's paternal grandmother's uncle.