{"id":1767,"date":"2026-09-22T11:32:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T11:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/the-two-scottish-female-novelists-who-outsold-and-inspired-jane-austen\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T11:32:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T11:32:56","slug":"the-two-scottish-female-novelists-who-outsold-and-inspired-jane-austen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/the-two-scottish-female-novelists-who-outsold-and-inspired-jane-austen\/","title":{"rendered":"The two Scottish female novelists who outsold and inspired Jane Austen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year marked 250 years of Jane Austen, one of the world\u2019s best-known authors. Her enduring appeal is reflected in the myriad celebrations that took place to honour this anniversary, including exhibitions, festivals and a special six-part podcast series<\/a> from The Conversation.<\/p>\n

Austen at 250<\/a> cemented her global status as one of the most-loved literary figures of all time. But what about the other commercially successful female novelists<\/a> who wrote alongside Austen, yet are barely remembered today? <\/p>\n

Scottish authors Susan Ferrier<\/a> and Mary Brunton<\/a> offer two such examples. Although relatively modest in their output, their novels \u2013 and in particular their first novels, titled Marriage and Self-Control respectively \u2013 were popular and widely read in their own historical moment. As their names suggest, these were works concerned with propriety and expectation, but they were also experimental in their own ways. <\/p>\n

Recent plot points in Netflix\u2019s Bridgerton<\/a> anticipate a growing cultural interest in Regency-era Scotland. With a fifth season officially in production<\/a>, and Scottish scenery foregrounded in the most recent trailer (below), it is timely to consider Austen\u2019s Scottish female contemporaries. <\/p>\n

\n<\/figure>\n

Regency Scotland<\/h2>\n

So far, Bridgerton has painted a picture of Scotland as a remote country, far removed from the bustle and excitement of the Ton. As Eloise Bridgerton recounts upon her return from the Kilmartin Estate<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Pen, there may not have been enough people in Scotland, but time spent amidst so much astounding natural beauty did give me considerable time to reflect, and what I realise is that there is no need for me to antagonise suitors or debutantes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

No mention has yet been made, however, of Scotland\u2019s capital Edinburgh, which was the epicentre of literary culture in Regency-era<\/a> Britain, with a prolific and internationally renowned publishing scene. As the academic Ian Duncan puts it, Edinburgh was, during these years, \u201ca literary metropolis to rival London\u201d<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This was due largely to Walter Scott\u2019s<\/a> bestselling historical Waverley novels<\/a>, which popularised Scotland as a tourist destination<\/a> and prompted a craze for Scottish novels, to which Brunton and Ferrier contributed. <\/p>\n

Susan Ferrier<\/h2>\n

Ferrier was born in Edinburgh in 1782 and lived there until her death in 1854. She came from a relatively wealthy family and was close friends with Scott, to whom she dedicated her final novel. Her proximity to Edinburgh\u2019s social and literary circles is reflected in the lively (and, to some, familiar<\/a>) characters who inhabit her novels.<\/p>\n

Ferrier is often pitched as Scotland\u2019s Jane Austen<\/a> \u2013 a comparison that began during the 19th century and has persisted since. Like Austen, Ferrier\u2019s novels were originally published anonymously, and when Marriage appeared in 1818, one reviewer<\/a> eager to know the author\u2019s identity wrote that \u2018had the authoress of \u201cPride and Prejudice\u201d been alive, and a native of Scotland, our conjectures would certainly have fastened upon her as the authoress\u2019. In 1878, Ferrier was commended<\/a> for having achieved for Scotland \u201cwhat Jane Austen and Maria Edgeworth have respectively done for England and Ireland\u201d. <\/p>\n

This comparison is both a blessing and a curse \u2013 on one hand, it allows readers to relate to Ferrier quickly; on the other, it has led to a sustained underestimation of her novels.<\/p>\n

That said, it is worth noting that Ferrier did not help matters by modelling the opening line of her second novel on Austen\u2019s more famous precedent<\/a>: \u201cIt is a truth universally acknowledged, that there is no passion so deeply rooted in human nature as that of pride\u201d \u2013 in which the reference to pride is no doubt uncoincidental. <\/p>\n

Ferrier wrote three novels, with the first appearing one year after Austen\u2019s death: Marriage<\/a> (1818), The Inheritance<\/a> (1824), and Destiny<\/a> (1831). Like Austen, she wrote about contemporary life, focusing on women\u2019s experiences of love and education.<\/p>\n

Ferrier\u2019s novels offer readers moral lessons, but they are also extremely funny. Frequently reflecting on the differences between Scotland and England, Ferrier makes fun of both, satirising what each thought of the other before showing how this was often misleading. <\/p>\n

Mary Brunton<\/h2>\n

Brunton was born on Orkney in 1778. She eventually settled in Edinburgh, where she died aged 40 from postpartum complications in 1818. Like Ferrier, Brunton wrote three novels: Self-Control<\/a> (1811), Discipline<\/a> (1814), and Emmeline<\/a>, which was unfinished and published posthumously in 1819. <\/p>\n

Also like Ferrier, Brunton\u2019s works focus on the daily lives and lessons of their heroines, as well as Scottish national identity. Their titles imply a conservative tone, but Brunton\u2019s novels openly navigate issues including sexual harassment, divorce and suicide. <\/p>\n

Austen was familiar with Brunton\u2019s novels and famously described Self-Control in a letter to her sister<\/a> as \u201cexcellently meant\u201d and \u201celegantly-written\u201d but \u201cwithout anything of Nature or Probability in it\u201d. That Austen was re-reading Self-Control when she wrote this indicates, however, her esteem for the novel \u2013 even against her better judgment. <\/p>\n

The public\u2019s opinion was also clear. As the academic Anthony Mandal notes<\/a>: \u201cWhen Self-Control appeared in the spring of 1811, six months before Austen\u2019s Sense and Sensibility, it was Brunton\u2019s first novel that was the sensation of the year, an overnight bestseller, and not Austen\u2019s\u201d \u2013 a feat that is aptly reflected in the reference to Self-Control in ITV\u2019s 2019 adaptation of Austen\u2019s Sanditon<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Constructing a canon<\/h2>\n

Between 1832 and 1841, all three women\u2019s works were reprinted in the London-based publisher Richard Bentley\u2019s<\/a> canon-making series of Standard Novels<\/a>. This was the first time that Austen\u2019s novels had been republished since her death in 1817, catalysing her rise to become one of Britain\u2019s most popular novelists, but it was Brunton\u2019s novels that appeared first in the series as volumes 15 and 16 respectively.<\/p>\n

Literary anniversaries create a sense of community and shared heritage<\/a>. But they also create opportunities to reflect on forgotten authors who were significant in their own time. <\/p>\n

Brunton and Ferrier are not well-known today, but they did outsell, inspire, and benefit from Austen. They thus remind us of the value and importance of reading beyond the canon \u2013 something that will no doubt reward Bridgerton fans next year.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Cleo O’Callaghan Yeoman received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to complete her PhD, under grant number AH\/R012717\/1.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year marked 250 years of Jane Austen, one of the world\u2019s best-known authors. Her enduring appeal is reflected in the myriad celebrations that took place to honour this anniversary, including exhibitions, festivals and a special six-part podcast series from The Conversation. Austen at 250 cemented her global status as one of the most-loved literary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}