The Clever Woman of the Family by Charlotte Mary Yonge, published in two volumes by Macmillan in London in 1865, is a mid-career novel by a prolific author. In a career spanning sixty years, Yonge wrote fiction, non-fiction, and journalism for adults and for children. Yonge’s life closely aligns with the dates of Queen Victoria’s reign and her work is largely representative of domestic fiction of the era, featuring such topics as religious faith and gender roles against a backdrop of military service and missionary work, at home and abroad. Yonge’s first novel, Abbeychurch, was published in 1844 when she was 21 years old. Her most popular, The Heir of Redclyffe, appeared in 1853, over a decade before The Clever Woman of the Family. Yonge continued to publish, often multiple titles a year, until her...
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Citation: Wilwerding, Lauren. "The Clever Woman of the Family". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 January 2026 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1264, accessed 09 June 2026.]
