Brunton, Mary (1778–1818)
Brunton, Mary (1778–1818)
Scottish novelist. Born Mary Balfour on November 1, 1778, on the island of Barra, Orkney, on the west coast of Scotland; died in Edinburgh, Scotland, on December 19, 1818; daughter of Captain Thomas Balfour of Elwick; married Alexander Brunton (minister of Bolton in Haddingtonshire and later professor of oriental languages at Edinburgh), in 1798.
Though Mary Brunton did not attend school, she studied French, Italian, and music while running her father's household. Following her marriage in 1798, she lived with her husband, a minister, in East Lothian, in the parish of Bolton, for five years. She died at the age of 40, 12 days after giving birth to a stillborn son in 1818. Brunton was the author of two novels, which were popular in her day: Self-control, published anonymously in 1811, was sold out in one month, and Discipline, published in 1814, was also successful. As well, she authored a fragment, Emmeline (1819), which, together with a memoir, was published by her husband after her death. Wrote a contemporary critic for the London Monthly Review: "Among the pleasing expounders of morality Mrs. Brunton stood preeminent, as well for the good taste and style, as for the soundness, of her works."