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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Iza Duffus Hardy

Author: Iza Duffus Hardy (1850–1922)

Biography: Iza Duffus Hardy was born in 1850 in Enfield, the daughter of civil servant Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy (1804–1878) and novelist Mary MacDowell (Lady Duffus Hardy) (1824–1891). (Hardy, in later years, consistently shaved four years off her age.) Except for two years of school, she was educated at home by her parents. At the age of fifteen, she planned and began her first novel, Not Easily Jealous (1872), and she wrote another dozen or so more. In 1873 she became engaged to the American poet Joaquin Miller (1837–1913) but broke it off after six months. After the death of her father, Hardy and her mother traveled to American: in 1880 they crossed the continent and in 1882 they visited the southern states. Based on these trips Hardy wrote two travel books, Between Two Oceans (1884) and Oranges and Alligators (1886). After the death of her mother, she took another trip to the United States in 1896. Throughout her life, she enjoyed a large circle of friends, including numerous fellow authors. Hardy never married and died in 1922.

Author Tags:

References: Black; Boase (Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy); British Census (1851, 1861, 1881, 1911); H.E. Smith and L. Salamo, Mark Twain's Letters, Vol. 5: 1872–1873 (University of California Press, 1997); Sutherland (Lady Duffus Hardy); Times (17 June 1878, 31 August 1922)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Not Easily Jealous: A Novel.  3 vol.  London: Tinsley Brothers, 1872.
  2. Between Two Fires.  2 vol.  London: Chapman and Hall, 1873.
  3. For the Old Love's Sake: A Story.  3 vol.  London: Tinsley Brothers, 1875.
  4. Glencairn.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1877.
  5. Only a Love Story.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1877.
  6. For the Old Love's Sake: A Story.  1 vol.  London: Moxon, 1877.
  7. A Broken Faith.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1878.
  8. Friend and Lover.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1880.
  9. Love, Honour, and Obey.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1881.
  10. The Love that He Passed By: A Tale of Santana City.  3 vol.  London: F. V. White, 1884.
  11. Hearts or Diamonds?: A Novel.  2 vol.  London: F. V. White, 1885.
  12. The Westhorpe Mystery: A Story.  1 vol.  London: F. V. White, 1886.
  13. The Girl He Did not Marry.  3 vol.  London: F. V. White, 1887.
  14. Love in Idleness: The Story of a Winter in Florida.  3 vol.  London: F. V. White, 1887.
  15. A New Othello: A Novel.  3 vol.  London: F. V. White, 1890.
  16. A Woman's Loyalty.  3 vol.  London: F. V. White, 1893.
  17. In the Springtime of Love.  1 vol.  London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1895.
  18. Mac Gilleroy's Millions.  1 vol.  London: Simpkin, 1900.
  19. The Lesser Evil.  1 vol.  London: Chatto and Windus, 1901.
  20. Man, Woman, and Fate.  1 vol.  London: Chatto and Windus, 1902.