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Over the Cliffs
Charlotte Chanter is best known as the author of Ferny Combes, a guide to collecting and identifying the ferns of Devonshire. Her only fiction novel, Over the Cliffs, was first published in two volumes by Smith, Elder and Co. in the autumn of 1860. The story is set on the coast of Devon at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It is a tale of murder, a stolen inheritance, smuggling, shipwrecks, blackmail, treachery, greed, plotting, counter-plotting… and love. There is even a hint of the supernatural in the form of a sighing ghost. Its fearless heroine is Gratiana Dawson, the daughter of a brutal bully who hates his children and is prone to violent paroxysms of passion. Motherless, forced to live under the roof of a tyrant, and the victim of one indignity after another, Gratiana refuses to surrender to the abusive men around her. Edward Mountjoy, the hero of the story, says of her, when speaking to Captain Douglas of the Royal Navy, ‘She has done things in her day that required from her more nerve than would be required of you in attacking an enemy.’ This edition includes a detailed biographical essay by Gina R. Collia, ‘Charlotte Chanter: Fearless Fern-Hunter of Devonshire’.
460 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1861
4 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Chanter
6 booksCharlotte Chanter, née Kingsley, (1828 – 1882) was an English writer best known for a book that helped set off a Victorian fad for collecting ferns in Devonshire.
Charlotte Kingsley was born in Devon to the Reverend Charles Kingsley and Mary Lucas Kingsley. Her older brothers Charles and Henry both became novelists, as did her niece, Lucas Malet. She spent her childhood in Clovelly, Devon, where her father was curate and then rector. She moved to London in 1836. Her husband, John Mills Chanter, became the vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Ilfracombe.
Chanter's 1856 book Ferny Combes was the first book to draw public attention to the great diversity of ferns to be found in Devonshire. Her book focused mainly on ferns discoverable within an easy distance of the coast. Like other botanizing authors of this period, she encouraged people to dig up rare ferns, contributing to the increasing rarity of certain Devon ferns. Her brother Charles coined the term pteridomania for this Victorian craze for ferns.
Chanter's 1861 novel, Over the Cliffs, had elements of both the gothic novel and the sensation novel, with a plot revolving around murder and an inheritance. Although it is said to have been well received in its day, it was panned by at least one critic.
Charlotte Kingsley was born in Devon to the Reverend Charles Kingsley and Mary Lucas Kingsley. Her older brothers Charles and Henry both became novelists, as did her niece, Lucas Malet. She spent her childhood in Clovelly, Devon, where her father was curate and then rector. She moved to London in 1836. Her husband, John Mills Chanter, became the vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Ilfracombe.
Chanter's 1856 book Ferny Combes was the first book to draw public attention to the great diversity of ferns to be found in Devonshire. Her book focused mainly on ferns discoverable within an easy distance of the coast. Like other botanizing authors of this period, she encouraged people to dig up rare ferns, contributing to the increasing rarity of certain Devon ferns. Her brother Charles coined the term pteridomania for this Victorian craze for ferns.
Chanter's 1861 novel, Over the Cliffs, had elements of both the gothic novel and the sensation novel, with a plot revolving around murder and an inheritance. Although it is said to have been well received in its day, it was panned by at least one critic.
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November 4, 2025
This is a compelling family saga that starts very strong, with vivid and beautiful prose and a great sense of place. Unfortunately it somewhat unravels, and that loss of focus and a scattered and confusing pace lost my interest and made it a somewhat tiresome read.
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