Frances Jacson

FJ is now accepted as the author of five late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century novels, published anonymously or with allusion to former titles in the chain, which were formerly attributed to Alethea Lewis . She kept a diary throughout her middle and old age, and also published a single religious work. Her fiction, though it remains reliant on well-tried plot devices, is notable for its perceptive exploration of her heroines' minds. She shows a strong vein of satire, and freely presents bad parents and bad marriages.