The Lady’s Tale and The Cousins, two brief novels by Mary Davys, are chiefly interesting for their links to similar fiction written in the period by popular writers such as Eliza Haywood and Penelope Aubin. While they show flashes of the ability that produced The Reform’d Coquet and The Accomplish’d Rake, The Lady's Tale lacks those texts’ tight construction and focus, and characters in The Cousins are not as psychologically developed as those in her other work.
The Lady’s Tale is the story of Abaliza, a much beset heroine in the romance mode. Oppressed by incredible beauty and incompetent parents—the usual twin ills of such ladies—she goes through a series of tribulations before she can be united with the love of her life. Her frail mother, believing her last day is near, exhorts Abaliza to...
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Citation: Bowden, Martha F.. "Miscellaneous Works". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 October 2006; last revised 26 May 2025. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=20620, accessed 09 June 2026.]
