E Lynn Linton was the author of over 20 novels. She was born in Keswick, England, in 1822, the youngest of the twelve children, and was largely self-educated after the death of her mother when she was just five months old. In 1845, she left home to earn her living as a writer in London, promoted by Theodosia Monson, who was a champion of women’s rights. She finished her first novel, Azeth, the Egyptian, in 1846, and also began working as a journalist, joining the staff of the Morning Chronicle in 1849 – the first woman to be paid a salary as a journalist. She later moved to Paris where she became a correspondent for The Leader, and was a regular contributor to Charles Dickens’s Household Words, the Daily News, and other leading newspapers. She became one of the best-known women periodical contributors of her time.