Lifespan: 1754-1842
Nationality: English
Genres: Romantic Fiction
Types of Work: Novels
Contemporaries: Maria Edgeworth, Mary Brunton
Other Names: Althea Lewis
Style: Strong satire, freely examines bad parents and bad marriages; heroines are in relatively high society, and often reveal the inner exploration of their own mind. Strong pronunciation of morality and spiritual themes.
Bio: Frances Margaretta Jacson was the daughter of Rev. Simon Jacson and Anne Fitzherbert. She was born October 13, 1754 at Bebington, Cheshire, England.
The family later moved to Tarporley. While there, concerns arose regarding Frances' older brother, Shallcross, an ordained priest who had taken up drinking and horse-racing. The brother's increasing debts spurred Frances and her sister, Maria, to turn to writing to raise funds. She completed two successful novels, Plain Sense and Disobedience, both published anonymously, as all her subsequent novels were. After her father's death in 1808, the sisters accepted an offer from their cousin, Lord St Helens, to live in Somersal Hall in Derbyshire for the remainder of their lives. Shallcross' debts continued to accrue, and Francis wrote three more novels, paying off his debts with her earnings. Her final novel, Isabella, was published in 1822. Her novel, Rhoda, was preferred to Jane Austen's Emma by Maria Edgeworth, who visited Frances in 1818.
Frances died June 17, 1842 at Somersal Hall. Since all five of her novels were published anonymously, it was not discovered until well after her death that Frances was the actual author of these works, previously attributed to Alethea Lewis.
Novels:
Plain Sense
Disobedience
Things By Their Right Names
Rhoda: A Novel