To say that Charlotte Mary Yonge's writings were designed to illustrate Tractarian principles at work in daily life is to convey a wholly misleading suggestion of dullness and dogmatism. In fact, Yonge's popularity in her own day (and among modern devotees) may be traced to her gift for infusing moral earnestness with human interest. Characteristic of both her subject matter and her ability to make that material exciting (to say nothing of her breadth of appeal) is the story of how Alfred Tennyson was unable to put down The Young Stepmother, or, A Chronicle of Mistakes (1861), so that he read through the night until he could at last set it aside with the cry, "I see land! Mr. Kendal is just going to be confirmed!"

Born on 11 August 1823 to William Crawley Yonge and his wife, née Frances Mary Bargus, Charlotte Yonge grew up convinced of the...