Maria Susanna Cooper

Maria Susanna Cooper (1737–1807) was an English writer and poet.

Personal life

Maria Susanna was born 20 August 1737 in Shotesham, Norfolk, to James Bransby and Anna Maria Paston. She married Samuel Cooper in 1761 but although her husband was soon appointed rector at Yelverton, they remained in Shotesham. Maria gave birth to ten children, though three of these died in infancy. In 1781, the Cooper family moved to Great Yarmouth when her husband was appointed curate there. Three more of her children died of tuberculosis between 1786 and 1802, and Samuel died in 1800.

In 1806, Cooper went to live with her eldest son, Robert Bransby Cooper in Dursley, Gloucestershire, and she died there on 3 July 1807.

Another of her sons, Astley Cooper, became a prominent English surgeon and anatomist.

Writing

Cooper's first writing was in the form of children's books, published with John Newbery, but details of these publications has been lost.

Her most prominent writing took the form of epistolary novels, beginning with Letters between Emilia and Harriet, first published in 1762. Cooper's most famous work, The Exemplary Mother, or Letters between Mrs. Villars and her Family, was published in two volumes in 1769 and republished in 1784.

Cooper published two novels in 1775—The Daughter' (a revised version of her first novel) and The History of Fanny Meadows—followed by Jane Shore to her Friend: A Poetic Epistle the following year. After her death in 1806, Cooper's novels were republished in revised editions, alongside two others, Moral Tales in 1811 and The Wife, or, Caroline Herbert in 1813.

Her early books were published anonymously, and even after her success, her books were only attributed to "the author of The Exemplary Mother" but she did begin to sign her introductions.

Cooper's books were particularly didactic, attempting to describe genuine portrayals of realistic people.