Alethea Lewis

Who was Alethea Lewis?

Alethea Lewis was an English novelist, born at Acton, near Nantwich, Cheshire. Her father was the Reverend James Brereton. Althea was two years old when her mother died, and her father sent her away to live with her maternal grandfather. Her father later remarried and had more daughters.

She was engaged to William Springal Levett, the son of an Aldborough physician, who died young in 1774 before the couple could marry. In 1788 she married Augustus Towle Lewis, a surgeon with a criminal past. The couple lived in Philadelphia for a year, and then returned to England, where they finally settled in Penkridge, Staffordshire.

Of the novels that are attributed to Lewis, some are of unquestionable attribution, while others are of more doubtful provenance. Among her undisputed works are Vicissitudes in Genteel Life and The Microcosm. Some of the more uncertain works have since been attributed to Frances Jacson.

Lewis' themes mostly centre on her profound Christianity and the rewards of virtue. Her work is very self-conscious, and shows great erudition. Some of her work was published under the pseudonym "Eugenia de Acton", a play on her birthplace.