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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Mrs. Newton Sears

Author: Mrs. Newton Sears (born 1851)

Alternate Name(s): Emily Fanny Lucas (maiden name)

Biography: Emily Fanny Sears was born on 8 December 1851 in Louth, Lincolnshire, the daughter of merchant Charles Edward Lucas. In 1876, she married the American businessman John Newton Sears whose first wife died two years earlier. In the years following the weddding, Sears wrote three novels in quick succession while having three children. By the late 1880s, her husband's business fortunes suffered reverses and the couple separated due to his alcoholism, physical abuse, and adultery. She returned to literature to support herself, this time contributing to low-class periodicals. In 1890, she sued for divorce and the courts granted it. Two years, later she remarried and thereafter her life cannot be traced. She was still living in 1897.

References: British Census (1871, 1881); Daily News (17 March 1874, 10 December 1890); Stamford Mercury (2 June 1876)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Cleansing Fires: A Novel.  3 vol.  London: Remington, 1877.
  2. Kismet: A Novel.  2 vol.  London: Remington, 1877.
  3. Folly: A Novel.  3 vol.  London: Remington, 1880.