Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontës

by Devoney Looser

For readers of Prairie Fires and The Peabody Sisters, a fascinating, insightful biography of the most famous sister novelists before the Brontës.

Before the Brontë sisters picked up their pens, or Jane Austen's heroines Elizabeth and Jane Bennet became household names, the literary world was celebrating a different pair of sisters: Jane and Anna Maria Porter. The Porters-exact contemporaries of Jane Austen-were brilliant, attractive, self-made single women of polite reputation who between them published 26 books and achieved global fame. They socialized among the rich and famous, tried to hide their family's considerable debt, and fell dramatically in and out of love. Their moving letters to each other confess every detail. Because the celebrity sisters expected their renown to live on, they preserved their papers, and the secrets they contained, for any biographers to come.

But history hasn't been kind to the Porters. Their literary reputation gradually fell away, their letters languished, and no biographer materialized for a century and a half. Now, Professor Devoney Looser, a Guggenheim fellow in English Literature, sets out to re-introduce the world to the authors who cleared the way for Austen, Mary Shelley, and the Brontë sisters. Capturing the Porter sisters' incredible rise, from when Anna Maria published her first book at age 14 in 1793, through to Jane's fall from the pinnacle of fame in the Victorian era, and then to the auctioning off for a pittance of the family's massive archive, Sister Novelists is a groundbreaking and enthralling biography of two pioneering geniuses in historical fiction.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Writing, Biography Memoir, Historical, Books About Books

576 pages, Hardcover

Published October 25, 2022

About the author

Hi! I'm Devoney Looser, Regents Professor at Arizona State U. I also go by Stone Cold Jane Austen, especially on roller skates. I'm really excited about my next book, Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane (St Martin's Press), coming out 2 September 2025. It's just in time for Austen's 250th birthday.

I've also written or edited eleven other books, including Sister Novelists and The Making of Jane Austen. Check out my lessons on Jane Austen on The Great Courses and Audible. Then sign up for my free author newsletter on history's strong women, from Jane Austen to roller derby. Thanks so much for connecting here.

P. S. I pronounce my name DEV-oh-knee LOH-zer. It wasn't a great name to have as a kid on a playground, but it definitely made me stronger!

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the late 1970s when I was at university, my classes in the early novel didn’t include any mention of the Porter sisters. Austen had a year-long honors seminar. So, it’s remarkable to read how an author I had never heard of, Maria Porter, had been more famous than Austen. With her sister Jane, the Porter sisters published twenty-six books, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. They created the historical fiction genre. Sir Walter Scott saw their success and wrote Waverly, his fame overshadowing them.

Devoney Looser determined to give the Porter sisters a deserved biography. The story of these women, and their brothers and friends and romantic crushes, are as dramatic and exciting as any fiction. It’s the story of brilliant, independent, high minded women who make every mistake imaginable in terms of where they gave their affection and loyalty. Who gained fame but struggled with homelessness and poverty. They met the most famous writers, actors, and titled people of their time, where admired by important men, were beautiful and intelligent, but never found love or riches. Every time it looked as if their fortunes were changing, their hopes were dashed. Their brother Robert was a gifted artist, successful for a moment, then in huge debt. He married a Russian princess, but had no fairy tale ending.

Jane Porter’s The Scottish Chiefs was Queen Victoria’s and President Andrew Jackson’s favorite book. It inspired Sir Walter Scott. Emily Dickinson owned Jane’s bestsellers. It was even included in the The Classics Illustrated Comics, No 67. And, it may be the uncredited inspiration for the move Braveheart.

Of course, the reason why we didn’t study the Porters at university was because they wrote historical fiction. My professor scoffed when I said my husband brought home a complete set of Scott, indicating that those books were not esteemed as literature.

During the writing of this book, I had moments when I wished I could shake these brilliant sisters by the shoulders and ask, “What are you doing?”

from Sister Novelists by Devoney Looser
Maria was the more outgoing of the sisters and fell in love easily. Jane was considered the more beautiful, shy and serious. They were exceedingly well-read. Influenced by Mary Wollstonecraft, they were proud of their independence. To be women and writers, with their names on their books, was still socially unacceptable.

They fell for charming, handsome scoundrels, preferring to see the best in these men.

Their fame and popularity brought entrée into the world of the wealthy and priviledged, while they economized and often went without necessities. Their friends had ‘colorful lives.’ They used their wide experience in their novels, thrilling readers while educating them in history. They believed that while entertaining readers, they could also inspire proper values and character.

I am not exaggerating to say that their lives were as full of tragedy, reversals, and serendipitous good fortune as any romance or soap opera imaginable. The stories of their brothers and their beloved friends are just as dramatic and colorful. I was riveted to the book, updating my spouse on the latest shocking episode.

This is a must read for anyone interested in women writers, the early novel, and women’s social history. Readers of history will gain insight into all levels of society.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

[Alisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could wish that this book were just a bit shorter, because, whew it requires a lot of time... but ultimately, I'm convinced that the Porter sisters are long overdue for attention. So it's only right that they get a good biography that delves into their forgotten lives.

To place Jane and Anna Maria Porter in a context that many of us are comfortable with:
*They were contemporaries of Jane Austen (indeed, they had mutual acquaintances, and at one point Jane Porter even corresponded with Jane Austen's brother Charles).
*They saw baby Queen Victoria playing on the lawn next to their house and thought things like, "Hey, what a cute kid." (I paraphrase.)
*One of them (Jane Porter) was dazzled at a party one day by the most beautiful male speaking voice she had ever heard, and turned around and realized, whoops, um, that was Lord Byron, and you didn't even get anyone to introduce you, Jane, what were you thinking (which is what Anna Maria said later).

Okay, so that's when they lived. Now, what did they do? They wrote novels. But they developed a new genre--the historical novel. They combined real events with fictionalized characters and dramas, and they were wildly popular. They did this before Walter Scott did, except then he took all the credit.

This biography aims to redress some of that unfair treatment by opening up an honest, detailed, touching view of their lives and accomplishments.

In a way, what's most fascinating to me is that the sources are even available for this kind of work. Fans of Jane Austen well know how frustratingly meager her extant letters are, and what huge gaps there are in really being able to get to the heart of her personality. That's not the case with Jane and Anna Maria Porter. Private details are all there for the taking from their copious correspondence and diaries. And Devoney Looser has painstakingly compiled much of it into a coherent, compassionate account that gives them the dignity they deserve.

Obviously, I find their hot takes on the celebrities of their day to be crazy interesting. I love feeling like I'm getting a fresh eyewitness account of someone or something that feels consigned to the mists of legend. I think of it as a 360-degree view of history... Like you've been looking one direction for a long time, and then someone starts to spin you around, and your mind is blown by what else is in the same space. And I love that. But it's the account of their private lives that's most moving.

Whenever I read something that draws so heavily on private letters, even of people long-dead, I always wrestle with myself over the ethics of it. Because it's incredibly easy to think of them as fictional characters in a book. But then sometimes I stop and remember they were as real as I am. And then I think, "Whoa, this is deeply uncomfortable stuff for me to know about another human being without their permission." Like when I learn that Anna Maria secretly corresponded with and practically became engaged to a man she had seen at a distance but never been introduced to. Or when I learn how Jane Porter was painfully, intensely attracted to a war hero acquaintance and how her family worked and worked and worked to get the two of them in the same room some day.

The Porter sisters produced a huge body of work, much of it to great acclaim, but they often did it while on the brink of deep poverty, struggling with illness and caregiving. This biography respects their account of their own lives. It's so personal. And, yes, it's fascinating. But it also makes you want to protect them, even now, from injury.

Am I interested in reading any of their works now? Not necessarily, although I picked out one or two I might try. But I'm not sure that the point of this book is to get people reading their stuff in this day and age -- it's more to pay homage to "invisible" or forgotten women, which exist in all eras and all fields of interest.

If you're interested in the Regency era and want to go beyond the simplified view often presented in movies and novels today, I recommend this book. Also, of course, if you're interested in women writers, Austen contemporaries, etc.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so grateful to Netgalley and Devoney Looser for the chance to review this incredible work of historical fiction. The Porter sisters have clearly not been given their due for their literary and cultural contributions. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of information available about their lives and correspondences. This book is well paced, well researched, and does a remarkable job at bringing the women and their impact into clear focus. I can't recommend this highly enough to fans of Austen and Bronte.

[Heather Moll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-researched, in-depth look at the careers and personal lives of two prolific nineteenth-century authors whose influence and talent have been largely forgotten. The books of the Porter sisters came up in my reading about regency-era contemporary fiction, but I never grasped their renown.

Their letters are filled with humor and clever insight into their world that must have also come through in their fiction writing. I was floored at how their paths crossed with some of the notable characters of the late Georgian era and how their talents intersected with art, the theatre, and opera. The way that their former friend Walter Scott sidelined them after clearly being influenced by their historical romances infuriated me.

“It is monstrous how these poets play the vampire with our works,” Jane wrote to Maria.

Jane and Maria Porter paved the way for later female writers to be respected and admired in their field and to take control of their own careers. Women were supposed to be ashamed that they were paid for their work or had ambition, or even dared to publish under their own names. The sexism they faced in their personal lives and professional pursuits is both jarring and yet still relatable to any woman who reads about the Porter sisters today.

One wonders what they could have produced if they hadn’t been constantly interrupted, preoccupied by their family’s debts, and compelled into the aid of others. As prolific and talented as they were, they could never earn enough to cover their expenses, and they and their mother were almost hatefully mistreated by their brothers who, in this time, had a moral responsibility to provide for them.

Devoney Looser’s curiosity, passion, and humor come through in this investigation. Anyone claiming to value nineteenth century female authors should know the Porter sisters, and Sister Novelists is a fantastic introduction to these talented and overlooked women.

4.5 stars. I received an arc from NetGalley

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do I always cry at the end of biographies?! Like I KNOW THEY DIE IN THE END. THEY LIVED FOREVER AGO. THIS ISNT A SURPRISE.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontës by Devoney Looser is an amazing look into an impressive pair of women who were sisters, authors, and true talents that lived before their time.

It is such a true shame that these truly talented women have been largely forgotten over time versus and amongst some of their peers that appeared on the scene chronologically around the same time/slightly afterwards during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It is also equally sad that I had not heard of Jane and Anna Maria Porter until I picked up this book…and I intend on changing that asap.

The author does an amazing job with her obvious passion and research to reintroduce to the whole world this talented duo that churned out so many novels during the era of great writers (Regency England). I was able to learn all about their origins/family, their schooling and upbringing, their many travels between England, Scotland, and Ireland, and some of the breadth and depth of pool of talent that surrounded them.

I was able to find out more about their works, their accomplishments, the troubles that they experienced, and what occurred so that their legacy is minimized in the mainstream culture versus their counterparts.

I will leave the reader with a few questions unanswered to keep it fresh and interesting…like…what does Walter Scott have in connection with said writers…Thaddeus of Warsaw…The Scottish Chiefs…and how did it all end?

Just fabulous.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Bloomsbury Publishing for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 10/25/22.

[Lisa Guidarini · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the finest literary bios I've read. I'd never heard of the Porter sisters, unsurprisingly, as they'd been swept under the rug and effectively forgotten. Their story is so lively and fascinating, crossing path with literary luminaries and other historical figures.

Looney constructs the book in such a way she seamlessly tells their stories alongside the history of the period and gives a sociological perspective. The amount of research here is staggering and I'd love to deconstruct the book to figure out exactly how she accomplished it.

It's as valuable for its portrait of the sisters as its history. I give it my highest recommendation as a book that fills a yawning gap.

[Mary Pagones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of pre-Austen novels, and I'd never heard of the Porter sisters before. But I love Devoney Looser's works, so I gave this book a try, and I'm so glad I did!

Jane and Anna Maria Porter were the daughters of a military man and an innkeeper's daughter. Their father died when the girls were young, leaving the family in a perpetually financially precarious state. However, the girls were able to secure access to a library when young, and their formative happy moments were spent reading for hours, particularly historical works that presented a Great Man vision of history (i.e., that history was shaped by great personalities). This worldview would underline the themes of the sisters' novels, particularly Jane's. Jane's The Scottish Chiefs was said to be ever-patriotic Queen Victoria's favorite novel. The two women averaged a writing a book every two years for many years, an extraordinary achievement in a world before typewriters, spell and grammar check, and even decent artificial lighting to write by. These books were beloved by a British public eager for stories celebrating nation-building by Great Men during times of war.

The reason for the sisters' prodigious output was simple--money. While they believed in their gifts, they also were responsible propping up a spendthrift family, particularly their brother Robert, who was a talented painter who seemed to favor massive, expensive historical works that rarely produced a return on the investment for materials and venues to show them. His get-rich schemes (including marrying a Russian princess) never paid off (said Russian princess was even more of a spendthrift than himself).

Much of the sisters' existence was paradoxical--they were famous, yet crushingly poor, since publishing could never make enough to support the family, even though they made far more money than say, Jane Austen during her lifetime. Neither married, yet Jane and Maria developed fixations on men whom they worshipped. In the case of Maria, this included an extended fixation on a poor soldier even he believed was beneath her, in terms of social position and poverty. Although Looser characterizes the sisters as Sense (Jane) & Sensibility (Maria), in this case sensibility was a relative term, as "sensible" Jane once traveled across the country to nurse a male mentor of dubious reputation with no way to get back other than his paying the fare--and he essentially kept her captive for a long time, although fortunately didn't try to have his way with her.

These women lived pretty wild lives, not in the sense of having lots of sex, but in the often rash and bold decisions they made to stay alive, and the indignities they often suffered, hobnobbing with the rich and famous but only being famous not rich themselves. Maria was once manhandled by an aristocratic woman who wanted to see if her beautiful breasts were real (they were, shades of Seinfeld). Jane wore veils and looked extremely Gothic, almost like a Georgette Heyer Regency parody of a dramatic woman novelist.

This book really brought the era to life for me, in the persona of these two fascinating women who didn't receive the credit they deserved in creating a still-thriving genre today (historical romances that blend real life and fictional personas in their stories). But perhaps the final cautionary tale is how badly these types of books date--I admit, I tried to give a go at The Scottish Chiefs and the few pages I read seemed pretty turgid. But it inspired Braveheart, so it continues to be influential in its celebration of Scottish national pride.

I feel the same way about the early Gothics of Ann Radcliffe, and even Ivanhoe (which I liked better was a mixed bag at times). The ways in which these early novelists unfold their tales is so much showing versus telling, and very little narrative economy and character development. In contrast, Jane Austen, who is often lambasted for her simplicity and narrow subject matter, produced detailed and astute psychological portraits of the everyday and her own class and era, and lives on as an author who created characters who seem to live and breathe on the page hundreds of years later.

In short, historical fiction may be popular, but it often dates more quickly than fiction set during the era of the author's own memory. The Porters, however, loved Austen's works, and lived longer than she did to celebrate it.

Regardless, I'm fascinated by publishing history, how writers make a living, and how what is viewed as "good" fiction changes from era to era, and this book really was thought-provoking about how texts are produced.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. I had no idea these two authors were the trailblazers of women fiction — before Austen and the Brontës. What an important read. This is a must read.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve ever wished that Jane Austen’s family had preserved more of her personal letters, have I got a surrogate wish-fulfillment for you. It is my pleasure to introduce the gifted nineteenth-century novelists Jane and Anna Maria Porter. Although their copious correspondence remains unpublished—and may always, as the writers themselves expressed was their wish—it has been carefully curated into a stunning biography of these innovative writers.

The Other Jane

Several years ago, I had the privilege of attending a small book club meeting hosted by none other than Austen scholar extraordinaire Devoney Looser at my alma mater, Arizona State University. (Yes, I silently fangirled in the corner, as one does, and barely found two coherent words to put together.) The topic of discussion was her fantastic book, The Making of Jane Austen, but I recall her mentioning the current work she was doing to research and write about “the other Jane” Porter. Little did I realize at the time that the forthcoming book had not been in the works for a mere few years, it had been a passion project of roughly two decades. And finally, we are all invited to discover the two authoresses, who created historical fiction as we know it, in the epic Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontës by Devoney Looser.

Truth is Stranger than Fiction

“The lives of these remarkable sisters may sometimes read like a novel, but it’s a true, blazing history.” Prologue XX

Jane and Anna Maria (“Maria”) Porter were born in 1770s England into genteel poverty. As was common for the time, their three brothers were given every possible advantage to establish careers for themselves. Despite a lack of access to the formal education their brothers benefited from, the sisters acquired knowledge in any way they could, then used their formidable pens to eventually support themselves and aid their disappointing brothers.

Celebrity & Lauded Acquaintances

As I read through their biography, I was completely amazed by the celebrity of these sisters whose fame has since been largely lost to time. The impoverished Porters claimed acquaintances with people in all levels of society, even some of the nineteenth century’s most lauded figures, including royalty. As Maria once said, “The world contains numberless rare creatures, and we know many of them.” (235) Their remarkable experiences certainly informed the stories they told.

Puzzling Obscurity

The dozens of books they wrote were not only well-known, but some could even be considered bestsellers by modern standards.

“Jane Porter’s books had sold not just thousands, or hundreds of thousands, but more than a million nineteenth-century copies in the United States alone! Why had we lost sight of her?” Prologue XI

“Her signature books about history’s underdog war heroes in nations fighting off tyrants were considered politically dangerous enough to be banned by Napoleon.” Prologue XIII

Yet the authors of such powerful books have fallen into puzzling obscurity.

Ever-Hopeful Perseverance

I was repeatedly struck throughout the Porter sisters’ biography by their impressive will to press on against a seemingly endless onslaught of trials. While some of their persistence was certainly the result of necessity, there was also a sense of admirable determination.

“As Maria mock-cheerfully put it, ‘Well, patience and perseverance; and then we succeed—and then if we do not—why, we drop into our graves, and all our unsuccessful attempts are forgotten by the head and heart that once ached in making them.’” (57)

Frequently at a disadvantage, economic and otherwise, as a result of the heavily ingrained sexism and classism in society, the sisters were inevitably expected to marry. But their experiences with men continually left much to be desired. Even the best of men seemed to wish for a delicate, subservient wife.

“As [Jane] opined, most men of talents liked to discourse with learned women, but few liked to marry them.” (61)

Through it all, the Porter sisters remained honorable and generous, always seeing the best in those around them—even those who least deserved their favor.

Meticulously Crafted

Without a doubt, Sister Novelists was impressively and deeply researched. I greatly admire the astonishing effort that clearly went into meticulously piecing together the seemingly unlimited, minute details to boldly paint the incredible portrait of two deserving yet forgotten authoresses. There is simply not enough space in this review to showcase all of the delightful interactions that have been left behind in their letters.

“‘I am out of patience with the Public,’ Maria wrote to Jane. ‘Good novels, excellent novels multiply, and they receive them, as a spoiled child does a new plaything, dashes them away, and cries for another.’” (305)

The Hard-Earned Spotlight

From the sheer volume of source material referenced, it is astounding how well the Porter family, and those who came into possession of it later, preserved their documents for posterity—not only letters, but even scrapbooks of meaningful ephemera. It’s a bit sad to think how hopeful they were, only for their legacy to fall dormant and largely unknown for more than a century. It took the care and attention of a dedicated scholar to bring them back into the hard-earned spotlight. It brings to mind a tireless mother taking her children to endless rehearsals, then standing off-stage in the shadows, proudly watching them shine in the limelight. And in the literary limelight is where the Porter sisters deserve to be.

In Conclusion

Sister Novelists is a triumphant and moving biography, drawing the revolutionary Porter sisters out of literary obscurity and into prominence once more.

5 out of 5 Stars

FURTHER READING
Here are just a few of the 26 published works by the Porter sisters.

By Jane Porter:

Thaddeus of Warsaw (1803)
The Scottish Chiefs (1810)

By Anna Maria Porter:

The Hungarian Brothers (1807)
Don Sebastian; or, The House of Braganza (1809)

https://austenprose.com/author/katier...

[Catie · Rating 4 out of 5]

**4.5 Stars**

[Veronica Severini · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fascinating in a way that no other biography has fascinated me. It felt like I was truly reading a story - it seems effortless in the way that Looser wove together every snippet of their lives. She made the Porter sisters feel accessible and modern, like two women I’d be friends with today. Thank you for telling their incredible story - I had never heard of them before a friend gave me this book, and I was truly so saddened to realize how history has forgotten them!

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

So rich and detailed without being narratively bulky, but then I AM biased because I consider every under-marketed female writer from the 1600s-1900s an ancestor I honor throughout the year and not just October 31st.

Jane Porter deserves to be just as merchandized as Woolf or Austen with the caption "the patron saint of needy women (writers)." Because women who do that then AND now are buried for taking care of our own, which has made me fall so in love that these two ladies (and their friends) never took their female friendships for granted. And THAT'S fucking powerful!

Thank you, Devoney! Wow!

[Bronwyn]

Will give this another try some other time. It’s not just working for me right now and there are people waiting for it from the library.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and impeccably researched story of the Porter sisters. I was swept away by their letter, their toiling to write, their caring hearts, and their fierce love for one another.

[Cass (the_midwest_library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for access to the ARC of this book.

I was so intrigued to pickup this book- two female authors who were at the top of the publishing world at one moment in time- now seemingly lost from most of history and fame. As an Austen lover I was really drawn to this book, which serves as a biography meets commentary of these sister authors.

The narration is strong, the authors voice is really well developed and the information on this family and the sisters- Jane and Maria was really interesting. Overall this was a fantastic book that explored the lives of these women on their literary journey, as well as the internal politics of their family and general social standing.

My only critique of this book is that I wish the author wrote with a bit more confidence. Since this biography is being written by reverse engineering letters, and other pieces of information throughout the sisters history, there are many instances where the author had to make inferences and assumptions about the women.
While not unheard of in any "thesis" based writing, the author would often condition these assertions instead of letting her research and citations stand on their own. For example there were many sentences throughout this book that were phrased "it is likely that the sisters did X" or "the sisters probably thought X." While this may be a subjective phrasing issue I feel as though the author would have come across as more confident in their research and assertions if the phrasing of these sentences was a bit stronger and more assertive. I found the conditional sentence structure to be a bit tedious and it happened often enough that I did make note of it.

Overall this book really is fantastic though, and the story of these sisters, and their brothers/family was exceptionally compelling. I would not have heard of these sister-writers if I hadn't picked up this book and would recommend this book to biography readers, literary history buffs, or any fans of Austen/Bronte.

[Ronan Beckman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - this is an amazing piece of work. Incredible to think that such well-known, respected and admired authors fell into such obscurity so quickly. Looser has been able to piece together the fascinating lives of these two celebrated sisters in a highly compelling and readable fashion, whilst demonstrating amazing research and scholarship in an unobtrusive way. It is a remarkable insight into the lives of celebrities of the day, and the cultural mores that restricted and confined the lives of these talented women. In my view, it ranks among the very best biographical accounts of women in the late Georgian-era. Highly recommended reading.

[Kami · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐️

[Ernest Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sisters Jane Porter (1775-1850) and Anna Maria Porter (1778-1832) were prolific and innovative writers, primarily of historical novels, very much admired in their own time, though largely forgotten in ours. Devoney Looser's= biography of the two is one of the most remarkable literary biographiesI have read --- but not, primarily, for the reason one might expect. Therecovery of the sisters' rightful place in literary history is, certainly, a major contribution to literary history;; but Devoney's narration of their lives, which they recorded in minute detail in letters and diaries, paints an extraordinarily vivid and harsh portrait of Regency England.

The sisters' father died before Maria was a year old, and left his widow forty pounds, a pension of ten pounds a year, and five children: Jane, Maria and three brothers. Mrs. Porter moved to Edinburgh and made ends meet by running a boardinghouse. Despite their poverty, however, she succeeded in getting her children an education and access to a fine library. Jane and Maria, in their teens, were very well read as well as intelligent, talented, and beautiful.

Maria published her first book, "Artless Tales" a collection of short stories, in 1793, at the age of fourteen (in her preface, she claimed to be thirteen). in 1798. Jane's first book, "The Spirit of the Elbe: A Romance," a two-volume Gothic complete with "villains, a ghost, a dungeon, a trapdoor, a poisoning, and an adulterous affair," was published in 1799, when she was twenty-four.

In 1803 the sisters found their true niche with the publication of Jane's four-volume novel, "Thaddeus of Warsaw" about a Polish hero fighting against the Russians. (Poland and its travails were considered very romantic at the time.) It inaugurated a new genre; the "modern" historical novel, combining historical figures and events with fictional characters and personal drama. Within a few months, after a some initial hostile criticism, it had achieved a huge success with critics and readers ]alike.

In 1810, Jane published her masterpiece, "The Scottish Chiefs: A Romance" in five volumes about the historical Scottish hero William Wallace and his war against Edward I. This was an even greater success, and a more lasting one; it has remained in print; an abridged version, for children, was published in 1921 with illustrations by N.C.Wyeth; a Classics Illustrated comic book version was published in the 1950s; it may well have been one of the sources for the movie Braveheart. In the United States, it sold a million copies, though Jane got no royalties from that.

Overall in their lifetimes, Maria published 16 books, mostly three- and four-volume and an opera. Jane published 7 books and a play and was the ghost-writer for four long travelogues by her brother Robert. The two sisters collaborated on four books.

Their literary success also brought them into contact with the leading intellectual, cultural, and fashionable circles of the day. They interacted with famous authors, leading actors, generals in the Napoleonic wars, and all manner of aristocrats up to and including the royal family. They would get invited as house guests for months at a time by wealthy patronesses.

But they were never financially secure. At the height of their success, their publisher was paying them advances of about 140 pounds on each book. (As a point of comparison: In "Sense and Sensibility" Edward Ferrars and Elinor Dashwood are able to marry and presumably to live in modest comfort on a clergyman's salary of 250 pounds per year.) For twenty years they lived with their mother in a small, dank, noisy, ugly cottage in poor repair and with no well. In 1824, feeling comparatively flush, they move to a much more pleasant place -- it even had a water closet! --- calculating that they could manage an budget of 180 pounds. But that proved to be beyond their means, and eventually they were priced out of this second new house.

The great blow to their literary prominence and to their lasting literary fame struck in 1814, when Walter Scott, anonymously published his historical novel "Waverley", which immediately became a best seller and a huge success. In the succeeding years, Scott continued to publish book after book of historical fiction, enormously more popular and more lucrative than the Porters'. The sisters felt aggrieved that he had stolen their thunder, copying not just the general genre and the style, but also character types and dramatic situations. They were furious that he refused to acknowledge their priority in the genre. Scott, in his lifetime and for a hundred years after his death, was widely considered one of the greatest of English writers; the Porter sisters fell into obscurity.

Looser's biography rescues them and their work from that obscurity; that in itself, would be a significant scholarly contribution to literary history. But if that were all, it would not be of great interest beyond literary historians. The sad truth is that Porter sisters' type of historical novel does not offer much to the twenty-first century reader. Scott himself is almost forgotten. I have not read any of the Porters' novels, and Looser's book does not move me to try. As far as I can tell, the plots are mostly complicated, melodramatic, and implausible, the characters are two-dimensional, and` the prose and dialogue are stilted and highfalutin. Here's a bit of dialogue from the first chapter of "Scottish Chiefs":

``I am going to mention a name, which you may hear with patience, since its power is no more. The successful rival of Bruce, and the enemy of your family, is now a prisoner in the Tower of London."

``Baliol?"

``Yes," answered Monteith; ``and his present sufferings will, perhaps, avenge to you his vindictive resentment of the injury he received from Sir Ronald Crawford."

``My grandfather never injured him, nor any man!" interrupted Wallace: ``Sir Ronald Crawford was as incapable of injustice as of flattering the minions of his country's enemy. But Baliol is fallen, and I forgive him."

Not many 2023 readers will want to work through five volumes of that.

Turning now to the sisters' personal lives: The two sisters often travelled separately, often over periods of months. When separated, they wrote to each other often, at length, and with perfect frankness and much of their correspondence survives. Drawing on this copious material --- had the sisters but known it, their best writing, at least from the perspective of 2023 --- Looser has put together a fascinating, often repugnant, picture of the world they lived in.

Three pervasive themes in particular stand out for me; the many romantic roller coasters, the constant concerns about debt, and the stifling level of propriety that society
imposed. (Another pervasive theme, it goes without saying, was the sexism that permeated the society. It impacted every aspect of the sisters' lives and careers.)

The sisters had a propensity for getting into complicated romantic situations. A significant fraction of the book is devoted to charting these.

The most remarkable was a romance of Maria's. In the summer of 1803, Maria went for an extended visit to friends. One morning, Maria was looking out the window and a very handsome soldier, an ``Adonis'', she later told Jane, marched by, leading his regiment. The soldier stopped briefly at the window. Maria gazed at him. He gazed back. Then the regiment marched on. But the soldier came back, repeatedly, at all times of the day and night. Maria began to watch for him. But there was no one to introduce them, and no justification for them to talk to one another. The soldier cleverly succeeded in communicating his name --- Frederick Cowell --- to Maria by setting up a situation where the soldiers under his command would shout it out. This went on for some weeks. Maria's visit was coming to an end. She wrote a letter to the soldier at his regiment, under a false name, but somehow with enough information in it so that he would know it was from the woman he had been looking at and so that he would be able to answer the letter, perhaps by having him mail his letter to the local post office.

Frederick Cowell answered her letter. Soon after, he and his regiment were sent off to
Jamaica. He and Maria kept up a clandestine correspondence through the rest of 1803 and 1804. Maria's only confidante was Jane; when she and Jane were separated and were discussing it by mail, they used cryptic code words, so that if someone saw the letter, they could not figure out the secret.

In late 1804, under Jane's urging, Maria finally wrote to Frederick, giving (at last) her true name, and declaring her love for her -- in effect, proposing to him. She declared that "there was one heart in Europe that beat only for him." He wrote back amorously and enclosed a lock of his hair. They were engaged.

But, of course, Frederick was in Jamaica, and Maria was in England. Moreover he didn't seem to have much gumption (my phrase, not Maria's or Looser's); he had no idea how he was going to advance in life, nor any great ambition to. Maria gave herusual advice to people whose character seemed weak; she sent him a list of books he should read to improve himself.

Finally Frederick did succeed in returning to England, though there was no guarantee that he could stay there. In November 1806 the lovers finally succeeded in meeting. This was still highly improper, but Maria arranged the rendezvous at the house of a couple she knew who themselves were living together out of wedlock and so were not too fussy about these things.

Two years in the tropics had been hard on Frederick's looks -- his complexion had faded, his hair was cut short, and he was fat. Worse, his depression about his life's course had gotten worse, and he found Maria intimidating. Maria reminded him about the books she had recommended, and told him that her love was conditional on his pulling himself together. That did not help Frederick's state of mind. The engagement continued, unhappily, for three more years. Jane and Maria devised various plans to somehow pull strings to get him a promotion, or another position, or money, but with no success. The engagement gradually fizzled out, and in May 1809 Maria finally wrote him a letter breaking it off.

The romance between Frederick and Jane was the only one involving the sisters that actually reached the point of an engagement, but there were many others; so many, in fact, that I started to lose track of them. Jane received a passionate proposal from a man who did not interest her at all, and a declaration of love from a man who was already engaged and whom she had first met a few days earlier; she declined both of them. Numerous times there were men who seemed charming and worthy, who seemed to admire them, and whom they liked, but for one reason and another, it never worked out.


Debt was a constant presence, almost a defining element, in the lives of the Porter family and many of their associates. One one-time admirer and long-time friend of Jane's, Henry Caulfield, was sued by a vindictive husband for adultery, lost the case, and was ordered to pay damages of 2500 pounds, which was completely impossible. For a year, he was on the lam, hiding here and there, visiting Jane when that was safe. Eventually, the husband caught up with him, and he got sent to debtors' prison; Looser's description of that is more gruesome than any in Dickens.

A less tragic but more remarkable story of debt is that of Jane and Maria's favorite brother Robert. As a boy, Robert Ker Porter (1777-1842) was an artistic prodigy. He was admittedto the Royal Academy School and, at age fifteen, won a silver medal --- J.M.W. Turner won the gold. In 1799 he decided to take advantage of a vogue for large panoramic paintings, and painted (with unacknowledged assistants) the biggest, most dramatic panorama anyone had ever imagined; a 106 by 20 foot, three-quarter circle painting, "The Storming of Seringapatam" depicting a recent British military victory in India. (Jane ghosted the 134-page brochure.) It was an enormous success. Robert made 1200 pounds and became a huge celebrity, clearly on the path to fame and fortune.


The success was his ruin He spent lavishly, loaned and gave money to friends, made bad investments, got swindled. He painted more panoramas, but that fad was now fading fast and he lost money on them.Robert was now seriously in debt, and all his life he never got free of it.

In 1805, to escape his creditors, he travelled to Russia. Using his connections he eventually succeeded in presenting himself to Tsar Alexander, who gave him a ring, but not a commission. He met Princess Mary Shcherbatov, they fell in love, they became engaged; him and his family felt sure that that would also take care of his money problems. However, the Tsar would not allow a British commoner to marry a Russian princess. Jane and Maria tried, unsuccessfully, to get him knighted, using such devices as making up distinguished histories for their ancestors. Then in 1807 Russia became an ally of France against Britain, so he was kicked out of Russia. He travelled to Sweden and was knighted by the King of Sweden. In 1812 he was finally able to marry Mary. However, unsurprisingly, it was not easy to turn the ostensible wealth of a Russian princess into ready cash, particularly as one of her estates had been destroyed during Napoleon's invasion. In 1813, first Robert, then Mary and their new baby, came to England, but that was a disaster. Mary was a spendthrift and treated Robert's sisters like upper servants. Robert and his family returned to Russia. Then, for some reason, Robert left his wife and daughter to travel in the Middle East: Persia, Armenia, and Georgia. In August 1824, Robert set sail for England bringing money to begin paying his debts. He got an appointment from the British government as a charge-d'affaires in Venezuela. The salary was 1250 pounds per year, but most of that went directly into the pockets of his creditors. In 1841 he returned to England and then later that year travelled with Jane back to Russia. He saw his daughter for the first time in seventeen years. (Mary had died ten years earlier). Just as he was stepping out the door for their return trip to England in 1842, Robert had a heart attack and died. After the funeral and the trip home, Jane was finally able to settle the accounts with his creditors.

It seems absurd to say that someone became a world traveller, a Swedish knight, the husband of a Russian princess, and a diplomat in Venezuela in order to avoid his creditors at home, but more or less that seems to be the case.

Stifling propriety:
I have read enough fiction and biography from this period to have some idea of the tightrope that women, and, to a much lesser extent, men as well, had to walk if they were to maintain their position in respectable society. But I have never seen the rigidity and harshness portrayed as clearly as in Looser's book. Any kind of social faux pas could be punished by loss of support, exclusion from society, unmarriageability, unemployability --- potentially disastrous for women in the Porter sisters' always precarious social position.

One particularly striking instance. When Jane, Marie, and Robert were at the start of their careers, they had two supportive older female mentors. One was Mary Champion de Crespigny, high-society, wealthy, and moralistic; she wrote and published a book of banal, high-minded advice. Mrs. de Crespigny lived with her husband in Champion Lodge, on a thirty acre park four miles London. The other was Mary Robinson. Mary Robinson had been a young, married actress, when she caught the eye of the Prince of Wales. She became his mistress for a year, then he discarded her. She took a series of other lovers. She became an author, writing feminist and abolitionist treatises, among other things.

In 1800, while Jane was on a visit to Champion Lodge, she got the news that Mrs. Robinson had died. At dinner, Jane was visibly in tears. Mrs. Crespigny attacked cruelly:

"Mrs. Crespigny asked Jane directly, with a frown, if she was acquainted with Mrs. Robinson ... If Jane had been a friend of the now-dead Mrs. Robinson, then all the world would have to cut her. Indeed, Mrs. Crespigny herself would have to drop Jane. She'd be shamed by all decent people, the powerful society woman proclaimed, threatening to do it then and there, in front of the whole company."

Terrified, Jane caved; she said that she did not know Mrs. Robinson and that she was crying because she had a headache.

My feeling, as I have said, is that, though Looser's book is a significant contribution to literary history, its chief value is as a portrait of Regency society. Accordingly, the most pertinent comparisons are not to other literary biographies but to novels of the same or similar times and places.

The most obvious point of comparison, which Looser points out several times, is Jane Austen, especially "Sense and Sensibility", with its two protagonist sisters. One particular incident, in which the actress Therese De Camp warned Jane off from getting involved with Charles Kemble by showing her a letter from Kemble swearing undying love for De Camp, is almost eerily like the episode in "Sense and Sensibility" where Lucy Steele stakes her claim to Edward Ferrars by showing Elinor a letter she had received from Edward.

However, what I am reminded of most strongly is Thackeray's "Vanity Fair", setin the Regency, though written thirty years later. Certainly the characters are very different; no fictional heroine could be less like the Porter sisters than Becky Sharp, except for Amelia Sedley. But the whole social atmosphere seems to me very much the same: the frenetic fashionable life, always on the precipice of financial or social ruin; the constant necessity to be at the beck and call of rich, unreliable, often horrible, patrons who at any moment might turn on you viciously; the constant attempts to cultivate and flatter the rich and powerful or their hangers-on, desperately hoping for promotion, assistance, recognition, and generally getting nothing but snubs. If you have a friend who has read too many Regency romances, or watched too much Bridgerton, or read Jane Austen too superficially, and is under the illusion that the Regency would have been a great era to live in, "Sister Novelists" is a fine corrective.

[Katie Sweeting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spellbinding biography by a scholar of blazing genius

Devoney Looser, known for her scholarship on Jane Austen and other ‘strong women’ of the long 18th century, has crafted a detailed and lengthy biography of two fascinating and mostly unknown women - Jane and Anna Maria Porter. While they lived, and afterward, in the late 18th and early-mid 19th century, they were famous novelists. After years of research, combing through stacks and stacks of largely illegible letters, finding and digesting other documents, books, and articles, Looser has compiled not just a biography, but a fascinating tale of two women who were prolific novelists and innovators in the novel form, despite being manipulated by other women, betrayed and led on by many men in their lives, let down by brothers, and at the door of poverty for most of their adult lives.

Who should read this book? Everyone! The book is for all who…
love to read about strong women
love a twist in the tale
love biography that reads like fiction
are scholars and professors
are librarians
are feminists
love Jane Austen

Let’s talk about some of the dominant themes of the book. Debt. Almost everyone is in debt and often for most of their adult lives. The two sister novelists, Jane and Maria, are in and out of debt, but mostly in. They write because they love to write, but also because they need to make a living, to pay for their home, the coal that heats it, the clothes they wear, travels to visit friends, their brothers’ debts! Their brothers were often in debt, and sometimes had to leave the country to avoid debtor’s prison. What surprised me was how poorly most people managed their money, especially the men, including Sir Walter Scott! Wow! His writing was phenomenal but his debts were astronomical!

Another consistent theme is manipulation and abuse. Both Jane and Maria are manipulated by men—royalty, actors, brothers. They were led on, mistreated, and even fondled (by women and men!). They ‘hoped’ that a certain personage would leave them a bequest, or a pension, or just loan them some money, and only a few did. The two men who treated them the best, in my opinion, were their two publishers, Longman and Rees. They gave both Jane and Maria advances and went out of their way to be encouraging and helpful, to the extent they could.

Sex outside of marriage is another theme. Many of the men in the book, and some women, were known for engaging in sex with someone other than their spouses. I learned that adultery was referred to as “criminal conversation” or crim. con. for short, and was punishable with a prison term. For once, only the man was charged (in this case), not the woman, who was cheating on her husband. Royals and commoners alike engaged in extramarital sex, a well-known secret.

I could go on, but I’ll stop here so you can go out and buy the book or get it at a local library and start reading! You won’t be disappointed.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

So why have you probably never heard of the Porter Sisters? For various reasons. One reason being their letters languished in storage until finally they were sold off at auctions to various libraries over the past fifty years. Other people attempted biographies but we never had a thorough biography until now.

I like Devoney Looser. This is from her website, “Hi! I'm Devoney, a writer and professor at Arizona State University. I also go by Stone Cold Jane Austen, especially on roller skates.”

My favorite kind of person is someone who’s enamored of the subject and she loves the Porter sisters so let’s talk about them.

The younger sister, Anna Maria Porter, was born in 1778. She published her first book "Artless Tales" at 14. She wrote pretty prolifically and kind of had to since their dad died when they were young and there were like five of these kids. Older sister Jane, born 1775, didn’t start writing until later and published the gothic inspired "Spirit of the Elbe" anonymously. Both sisters took turns writing to keep money coming into the family and debts at bay. They had three brothers but their brother ran up debts, and the sisters were bailing them out to keep debtors' prison at arm’s length.

Jane and Maria observed people from every class. Because of their financial struggles, they often stayed at their friends' homes. They knew dukes, the rank right below royalty. Their close friends owned an art supply shop. While their brother Robert Kerr Porter, noted painter, married a Russian princess. Jane even traveled in later life and met the Tsar. Queen Victoria was their neighbor as a child. Eventually they pioneered the historical novel, excuse me Sir Walter Scott.

Sister Novelists comes in at 576 pages but it covers two people’s lives, and Looser keeps the pace going. She weaves in her observations. Like when the sisters face sexism in the form of pay disparity. Looser also sees her subjects with clear eyes. She notes that while Jane was an abolitionist, she likely would’ve supported the scheme of slow emancipation and repayment to enslavers. I personally love biographies of authors and this is an excellent one so I highly recommend it.

[Collins Hemingway]

Devoney Looser’s book Sister Novelists is not a book you can read quickly—and you don’t want to. It is a rich and rewarding study of the lives, times, and writings of Jane and Anna Maria Porter, two sisters contemporaneous with Jane Austen and, in their time, far more famous. They sold millions of books, hung out with the rich and famous, and yet tottered on destitution their entire lives. After inventing the historical novel, they lost credit and sales to Sir Walter Scott and eventually were forgotten.

Sister Novelists will make you laugh, cry, pull your hair in frustration, and marvel. Looser doesn’t tell just the story of the intelligent, well-read, personable, attractive, and highly productive authors. She tells the interlacing stories of family, friends, acquaintances, theater stars, war heroes, and the peerage.

Looser delves into the writing projects, chaste loves, and lives of Jane and Maria. Good writing lives in the details, and every page has at least one arresting anecdote or story, one “Aha!” moment after another. Here’s one: the Porter sisters sold millions of books in the U.S. The lack of copyright protection across nations means they were never paid for these editions. When American publishers finally decided they owed the Porters something, they didn’t send cash but rather a rosewood rocking chair. Perhaps for Jane Porter to sit on and contemplate their cheapness.

Looser is the rare biographer of the period who digs into slavery, calling out the several times the practice entered the family’s life.

Sister Novelists provides short critiques of Maria and Jane’s works, which ranged from novels to operas and plays to travelogue nonfiction, which Jane edited for two of her brothers. Though male heroes dominate, the Porter fiction portrays strong women “drawn with vivid discernment and human sympathy” and featuring spirited dialogue (129). Otherwise, their novels suffer from the limitations of similar romances, which include perfect heroes and stories that go forward by coincidence rather than by character motivation. But, if the fiction of the Porter sisters was “outlandish and improbable,” Looser observes, their lives were equally so.

[Lona Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devoney Looser’s joint biography of Maria Porter (1778–1832) and Jane Porter (1775 – 1850) runs to over 400 pages, exclusive of footnotes and so forth. Why read so much detail about two women you’ve probably never heard of?
There are lots of reasons—the Porter sisters’ rise from poverty to fame, if not riches, makes for an engrossing story, and Looser has uncovered the long-hidden true tale of their successes, their losses, their love lives, their friendships, and their disagreeable in-laws. Thanks to some amazing quirks of fate--also related in Sister Novelists--the voluminous correspondence of the family survived (unlike, for example, the bulk of Jane Austen’s correspondence with her sister Cassandra.)
I was also fascinated by the candid opinions of women living in an age when seeking patronage was the key to getting ahead, slavery was tacitly accepted as an economic fact of life, and the suspicion of being unchaste could destroy a woman’s reputation. (The Porter sisters were professed Christians, but they sometimes befriended women who had strayed from the paths of virtue.)
Then there are the everyday hardships of 18th and 19th century life to contemplate. Life was uncertain and mortality rates were high. Jane and Maria’s mother waited years to marry the man she loved, only to see him sink under a mysterious illness ending in insanity and death. She was left with little money and five children under the age of eight. Jane and Maria’s brother Robert was lucky to get a diplomatic posting to Venezuela, even if it meant abandoning his daughter in Russia after the death of his wife. The sisters spent months and years of their lives as guests in the homes of their wealthier friends, just to reduce their own living expenses. (This was the fate of many a heroine in 18th century novels, and the Porter sisters are exposed to the same unpaid servitude and the romantic jealousies that arise in those novels).
Jane and Maria started publishing very young and under their own names. (As per the practice of the times, they also published many magazine pieces anonymously or under pseudonyms). Celebrity came at a cost as it conflicted with the prevailing social expectation that eligible young ladies be demure and retiring. The Porter sisters had unrequited love affairs, but never married. Maria wasted many of her best years in a long-distance relationship so bizarre that you’d roll your eyes over it if you encountered it in a novel. But it all happened. A well-meaning friend tried to push Jane into the arms of a stupid, self-satisfied army major. If she had said “yes,” Jane, her mother and sister would have been financially secure. She didn’t hesitate to reject the major’s overtures despite the fact that their earnings were swallowed by their family debts. They lived in a state—to borrow from Austen—“of most wearing, anxious, youth-killing” poverty. Time and again, their hopes for an advantageous marriage or a plum appointment or a generous patron or a useful connection or a government pension fell through. Despite being famous authors, Jane and Maria never made enough money to live comfortably.
Ironically, Sister Novelists would probably not exist if the monumental research effort which went into writing it had not been subsidized by numerous grants and fellowships, and if Looser had not been willing to devote her talents over many years to bring their story alive.
In addition to the engrossing biographical and social detail Looser provides, Sister Novelists also demonstrates that the Porter sisters were robbed of their place in literary history. Jane and Maria’s novels, such as Thaddeus of Warsaw (1803) and The Hungarian Brothers (1807), were international best-sellers in their day. But their pre-eminence as writers of historical fiction was eclipsed, starting in 1814, by Sir Walter Scott and his Waverly novels. The sisters were well aware of this as it was happening and they were angered because they, not Scott, pioneered the technique of placing fictional characters in real historical events alongside real people from the past, as Looser explains. Scott never acknowledged his literary debt to them.
A quick Google search confirms that Scott is described as the “father of the historical novel.” It is even stated that he invented the historical novel, and that Waverley (1814) was the first historical novel. Looser proves that this is poppycock.
The Porter sisters’ fame dwindled into oblivion in the 20th century while Scott’s reputation was still going strong. Looser asserts, “Thanks to Sir Walter Scott’s towering reputation, mentions of the Porter sisters’ fiction become inconvenient. The Porters’ existence didn’t fit the powerful myth of Scott’s invention, singularity, and deserved triumph.”
The Waverley novels were published anonymously, so in theory, for years no one was certain if the author was male or female. But perhaps those first readers recognized that Scott was the better writer. Looser is indignant on behalf of the sisters when they got bad reviews from male reviewers, but if they deserve to be remembered for their talent, surely Sister Novelists would contain more representative excerpts. In fact, the Porter sisters’ present obscurity may also be explained by their outdated style, which today reads as hackneyed and trite. Just skim the opening passages of Thaddeus of Warsaw and you’ll see what I mean. Their private letters are more readable and interesting, and these are generously quoted.
It wouldn’t be fair of me to give Sister Novelists any less than five stars just because I personally have no interest in the debate over literary patriarchy. Looser convincingly makes her case that the Porter sisters played an important role in the development of the novel. However, I think it’s the determination, drama, and pathos of Jane and Maria’s personal story which will remain with me. The rich re-creation of the lives of these sisters and their circle is well worth reading. The historical setting, the complex narrative, and the large cast of characters are skillfully and clearly handled. Thank you, Devoney Looser.

[Patrick McGraw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the biography's imposing length of 555 page, I could not put this book down. A novelist could not have written a story about the Porter sisters' lives that was more surprising, and intricate. These two sisters, despite being born into and living their whole lives in poverty, nonetheless met and befriended an amazingly wide array of people from every rank in society. If their story were told as fiction, it would seem too improbable. Yet despite their poverty, they lived lives that were immensely rich in relationships; and they lived to be celebrated authoresses and international celebrities. Professor Looser has done a Herculean effort in reading and drawing order out of thousands of previously unread, unsorted letters and many family diaries. Thanks to the immense amount of source material, Professor Looser has been able to provide a more detailed biography than is possible about most literary figures. Being privy to the sisters' private thoughts and feelings, she was able to write a story that frequently moved me to tears and to admiration for the resilience of those two novelists.

[Sarah Lyall-Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say enough good things about this book. This book is 400+ pages long, and I just kept turning them wanting to know more. The Porter sisters were amazing and its really sad they were lost to history. Hopefully, through this book, they will be brought back into the conversation along with Jane Austen and the Brontes.

[Deborah Yaffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crazily entertaining portrait of two once-successful-now-forgotten female writers whose lives -- complete with selfish brothers, vacillating suitors, royal connections, and mountainous money troubles -- seem straight out of one of their own multivolume historical novels.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! Very interesting, well-written and well-paced. The sisters and their family led extraordinary lives, given the relative poverty they were born into and with which they struggled for most of their lives.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meticulously records the lives of the Porter sisters, Jane and Anna (known as Maria) and their intimate family and friends through the collection of papers and letters written between them all. Jane and Maria were some of the first popular women authors, living in the same time period as Jane Austen and invented the "historical romance", which Sir Walter Scott proceeded to take credit for, and unfortunately sets the tone for much of their lives.

As I mentioned in my first paragraph, this book seems meticulously researched and goes into great detail on the sisters and their world, which is both fascinating and depressing, often chapters cover just one or two years in their lives, but it isn't a biography to be taken up lightly. The Porter sisters, though being economical and clever, were constantly under crippling debt (generally because of their family's bad decisions, occasionally from their own failed ventures), and it is often shown how easily someone (frequently one of their brothers or other close relatives or friends) could have made an immense difference in the fortunes of the Porters, but didn't. This could be partially attributed to the sisters' horror of "charity", but I found it depressing how many of their friends would loan them money, which Jane and Maria would repay with interest, though years later, and it's never mentioned that one of the friends just said "Nope, you've paid back plenty." or "Nope, it's a gift. You help others all the time." Often (and somewhat sadly?), their publishers are the most generous people in their lives. Also, they are frequently being used by social climbers to give themselves status, but other than a place to stay (hopefully economically, but sometimes not) Jane and Maria get little in return. For the most part, I feel like Professor Looser does a good job of letting the time period be authentic, explaining differing world views and not excusing them, but I don't agree with how she handled their opinions on slavery and transgender. I also find the title of the book rather misleading, because though I am absolutely convinced Jane and Maria Porter invented the Historical Romance Novel, every other area of their literary endeavors they mention the women mentors they had who had already made names for themselves in that area (making them not what I define as a "trailblazer") and they were actually contemporaries of Jane Austen (and outlived her), so I don't really see how they paved a way for her (but do understand that Austen on your cover helps sell books, though they did provide actionable examples for the Brontes). These quibbles aside, I did find their story amazing. I had heard of some of Jane's books before, The Scottish Chiefs and Thaddeus of Warsaw, but haven't gotten around to reading them, and honestly was unaware they had a female author, but I now intend to make more of an effort to read both her and Maria's books that I can find.

No really content notes, the language is clean and no violence. There are frequent mentions of mistresses or unmarried lovers, or other "scandalous" people, many of whom are the sisters' friends or acquittances, that they are loyal to, but they often note how these relationships are bad for the people involved, and other than some children born out of wedlock, no details given. The greatest content warning I can think of, is the depression readers may get from some really incredible people working hard and never getting what they want, be that a loving spouse, or just to be out of debt.

I received an ARC in exchange for my review and I am so sorry it took me forever to read!

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review: https://www.mwgerard.com/review-siste...

Before Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters, or the historical novels of Walter Scott, there were the Porter Sisters. Jane and Anna Maria Porter were born in the waning days of the reign of King George III and English control of the American colonies. They were two girls of the five children born in Durham in northeast England. Their father, a surgeon, died about a year after Maria was born. From then on, the family would move fairly frequently, in search of stability and livelihoods.

At the time, in the absence of a father, society expected the male siblings to take care of the family at home, until the sisters married and became the ward of their husbands. The three Porter brothers chose various paths in an attempt to support their family. However, the sisters were not going to wait around for that to happen. Anna Maria published her first book at age 14. Jane was submitting poems to literary journals under assumed names. Anna Maria was a busy and prolific writer. Jane worked at a slower pace but her works were incredibly popular.

Robert Ker Porter shared similar artistic and creative sensibilities as his sisters. He was a talented painter from an early age, a talent that was encouraged. He was noted for his early success as a painter of panoramic battle scenes. These massive realistic scenes were more than 100 feet long and surrounded the viewer’s peripheral vision. It was an immersive experience. Unfortunately, he did not find judicial uses for his newfound wealth and fame. He did what most twenty-somethings did – had too much fun. His life would take numerous left turns, from running to Russia to escape debtors prison, wooing a princess, befriending Tsar Alexander I, and becoming British consul to Venezuela.

Jane’s first novel Thaddeus of Warsaw (1803) was a runaway bestseller for the era. It was an historical epic romance set in Poland and Britain, based on first-hand accounts from soldiers and citizens. Thaddeus was written to be a pure hero, displaying perfect bravery and honor. The novel also eschewed the values of constitutional democracy versus the imperialism of Napoleon. Despite the multiple printings and astronomical sales, Jane Porter earned little of the money the book brought in. The copyright was largely owned by the publishers.

Jane’s book The Scottish Chiefs (1810) was a historical romance featuring William Wallace. It was again wildly popular, and often cited as the book that inspired Walter Scott to write the Waverley novels. It was also subversive to some.

Napoleon became so concerned about the possible influence of The Scottish Chiefs on his ability to retain power, presumably because of its celebration of those who resist invasion, that he commanded the French edition to be destroyed. Maria, as ever, was Jane’s greatest admirer. She compared the pure passages of beauty in her sister’s novel to the writings of Shakespeare. Across the nineteenth century, The Scottish Chiefs never fell out of print. ~ Loc. 4967

This is a situation the sisters would repeatedly encounter during their literary careers. Writing themselves into illness, delivering manuscripts and editorial work constantly, then being paid a pittance for their work. Despite the setbacks, they seemed to always be willing to take pen to paper and try again. If they could just find the sweet spot of popular novel with fair publishing deal, they could live comfortably and without concern for eviction.

As it was, the sisters often visited the homes of distant relatives and family friends. There was a practicality to this — cost. One sister stayed home to take care of their mother, while the other became a household expense for someone else. In exchange for hosting one of the sisters, the hosts often expected some sort of consideration — help watching a child or assistance as a private secretary. In one case, Jane went to stay with the insufferable Reverend Stockdale with a promise to help him arrange his papers and compose his memoirs. One can only think of Eliza Bennet trying to refuse the attentions of Mr. Collins.

Devoney Looser traces the fascinating, if difficult, lives of the influential authors that have been largely overlooked, not least because of the long shadow of Sir Walter Scott. The women forged a new genre and paved the way for the likes of Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and many more. It’s long past time these writers received their due and this biography goes a long way to dusting their reputations off.

[Shradha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of the Porter sisters before reading this book, but like many others who have journeyed through AP English in high school, I had heard of and read the works of Austen and the Brontes. Therefore, I was interested in reading about a pair of sisters that had apparently inspired these two literary giants. I was surprised to read that these two writers were even more famous than Austen in their heyday, and that one of Jane Porter's novels "The Scottish Chiefs" was one of the inspiring works for the movie "Braveheart." It seemed kind of odd then that when Googling their names, all that appeared to show up was a Wikipedia stub and a series of podcasts and blog posts regarding the work of the biography's author, Devoney Looser, to make their names known to the public.

I leaned heavily on the biography and Project Gutenberg's collection of public domain works to give insight on the life of these authors, and how the novelty of their gender both made them the toast of the town at their heights as well as doomed them to obscurity and near poverty at the sunset of their lives. Looser does a great job infusing human characteristics of the people she is examining even as she analyzes them through an academic lens. Anna Maria Porter's optimism and humor shines through as if she were a character in a novel she was writing instead of the subject of a lengthy biography. The same goes for Jane's more serious, yet no less feeling emotional depths that leads her through heartbreak after heartbreak.

Looking at the 500+ page count it could be easy to suppose that reading the Porters' story would be a slog of a time. But, in actuality, about 100 pages are composed of the author's references and research, and the only "slog" is the lack of imagination in 18th and 19th century English names (Seriously, did no one think that it would be typical to keep track of which John/Henry/Robert/William/George they were talking about if every male was named one of these choices?).

Thanks to the author and Goodreads First Reads for allowing me a free look into the lives of these women. All thoughts and opinions are my own.