Eliza Keary
Eliza Keary was an English author born in Kingston-upon-Hull in 1827, known for her collaborative and solo literary works. She lived closely with her sister, Annie Keary, who was also an accomplished children's writer. Together, they coauthored several books, notably "Heroes of Asgard and the Giants of Jotunheim," which presented Norse myths in a child-friendly format, and "Early Egyptian History for the Young." Their writings often blended moral and religious lessons with fantastical elements, characteristic of the Victorian era.
In 1869, Eliza began to explore themes beyond children's literature, publishing poems for adults that touched on gender equity and personal relationships, as seen in her collection "Little Seal-Skin, and Other Poems." The titular poem, involving a mythical seal woman, addresses complex themes of marriage and autonomy. Following the death of her sister in 1879, Eliza grieved deeply and published a memoir in her honor. Throughout her life, she continued to write both children's literature and devotional texts until her death in 1918. After a period of obscurity, recent feminist scholarship has rekindled interest in her work, suggesting a potential reevaluation of her contributions to English literature.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Eliza Keary
Writer
- Born: 1827
- Birthplace: Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire, England
- Died: August 29, 1918
- Place of death: Torquay, Devon, England
Biography
Eliza Keary was born in Kingston-upon-Hull, England, in 1827; the exact date of her birth is uncertain. Her parents were William and Lucy Keary, and her sister, Annie Keary, was a well-known children’s writer. The two sisters were very close, living together for much of their lives. In 1854, the Keary family moved to London.
Eliza and Annie Keary coauthored a number of books. In 1857, the sisters published Heroes of Asgard and the Giants of Jotunheim: Or, The Week and Its Story. In this book, the Kearys rewrote Norse myths in a form suitable for children, explaining how the days of the week got their names. They followed this book with Early Egyptian History for the Young: With Descriptions of Tombs and Monuments in 1861 and Little Wanderlin, and Other Fairy Tales in 1865. These books followed the typical Victorian pattern of interweaving religious and moral lessons with the pagan and fantastical elements of the stories.
In 1869, Keary’s writing took another turn when she published two poems for adults in Macmillan’s Magazine. One of these poems became the title poem in Keary’s 1874 collection, Little Seal-Skin, and Other Poems. “Little Seal-Skin” is a particularly poignant poem; the story of a young seal woman caught on shore by a fisherman, it describes the forced marriage and childbearing the mythical woman must endure before she escapes back to the sea. This volume also included the poems “Doctor Emily” and “Christine and Mary: A Correspondence,” in which Keary approaches issues of gender equity and female relationships in ways not evident in her other work. As a result of this collection, contemporary critics compared Keary to Christina Rossetti, another important Victorian woman writer.
Annie Keary died in 1879, and her death was a blow to her sister, who lost not only her closest friend but also her collaborator. Three years after Annie’s death, Keary published Memoir of Annie Keary, by Her Sister. Throughout the 1880’s, Keary continued to write both devotional texts and children’s books. She published an adult story “Madeleine’s Story” in Blackwood’s Magazine in 1891 and began working on an edition of letters of historical importance, a task that took her some ten years to complete.
Keary died in Torquay, Devon, England, on August 29, 1918. Although her work was popular in her day, it was largely forgotten for many years. In the closing years of the twentieth century, feminist scholars expressed some critical interest in “Little Seal-Skin.” As critics continue to recover women’s writing and history, it is likely that Keary’s role in English literature will grow.