Maria Polack | |
---|---|
Born | 31 January 1787 |
Died | 8 January 1849 Whitechapel | (aged 61)
Occupation | Teacher of music and poetry |
Language | English |
Genre | Fiction |
Notable works | Fiction without Romance (1830) |
Maria Polack (31 January 1787 – 8 January 1849 [1]) was an English Jewish novelist and educator. Her father, Ephraim Polack, [2] was a prominent member of the Great Synagogue of London, [3] and her niece (or perhaps daughter), Elizabeth Polack, was the first Jewish woman melodramatist in England. [4]
In 1830 Polack published by subscription the two-volume anti-romance Fiction without Romance, or The Locket Watch, which focuses on the importance of female education and respecting religious and class differences. [5] [6] [7] The novel depicts a gentile family in Devonshire, a member of whom, Eliza Desbro, encounters a sympathetic Jewish family after discovering her status as a bastard. [8] [9] The one-hundred and twenty subscribers to Polack's book included John Braham (two copies), Mrs Nathan Rothschild (five copies), and members of the Goldsmid family (six copies). [10] A second, non-subscriber edition was published two years after the first edition. [11]
Maria Polack | |
---|---|
Born | 31 January 1787 |
Died | 8 January 1849 Whitechapel | (aged 61)
Occupation | Teacher of music and poetry |
Language | English |
Genre | Fiction |
Notable works | Fiction without Romance (1830) |
Maria Polack (31 January 1787 – 8 January 1849 [1]) was an English Jewish novelist and educator. Her father, Ephraim Polack, [2] was a prominent member of the Great Synagogue of London, [3] and her niece (or perhaps daughter), Elizabeth Polack, was the first Jewish woman melodramatist in England. [4]
In 1830 Polack published by subscription the two-volume anti-romance Fiction without Romance, or The Locket Watch, which focuses on the importance of female education and respecting religious and class differences. [5] [6] [7] The novel depicts a gentile family in Devonshire, a member of whom, Eliza Desbro, encounters a sympathetic Jewish family after discovering her status as a bastard. [8] [9] The one-hundred and twenty subscribers to Polack's book included John Braham (two copies), Mrs Nathan Rothschild (five copies), and members of the Goldsmid family (six copies). [10] A second, non-subscriber edition was published two years after the first edition. [11]