Maria Edgeworth
Anglo-Irish novelist and writer (1768–1849) known for realist regional novels and tales of Irish life, including Castle Rackrent and Belinda; also wrote on education and children's literature.
Books
This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.
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1. Il Castello Rackrent
A Tale
Told by the long-serving steward, this witty, ironic novella traces the decline of an Irish estate through successive generations of incompetent, profligate landlords whose mismanagement, gambling and absenteeism ruin the family and expose the injustices of the Anglo‑Irish gentry; blending local speech, social satire and historical observation, the narrator both skewers landed privilege and preserves sympathy for tenants and rural life.
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2. Ormond
The Secret Witness
A coming-of-age novel that follows a young Irish gentleman whose moral and political education unfolds amid the turbulent social currents of his time; drawn between charismatic radicals and self-interested aristocrats, he must learn to detect hypocrisy, resist demagoguery, and choose principles over passion. Through episodes of lost inheritance, contested loyalties, and romantic entanglement, the story examines honor, national identity, and social reform while satirizing both revolutionary excess and aristocratic corruption.
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3. Castle Rackrent And Ennui
A witty and instructive pair of tales contrasts a rustic chronicle of a mismanaged Irish estate—told in the colloquial voice of a loyal steward who records the follies, vices, and declining fortunes of successive heirs—with a urbane moral sketch that probes the emptiness of fashionable life, showing how boredom, vanity, and social pretence corrode character; together they blend sharp social satire with moral observation, exposing the consequences of irresponsibility and urging prudence, virtue, and a clearer sense of duty.
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