Margaret Veley was a writer whose prose and poetry appeared repeatedly in the Cornhill Magazine and other popular magazines alongside the works of Henry James and Thomas Hardy. Although she enriched the periodicals of her day and garnered much praise, her works have largely been forgotten. Most of Veley's poetry originally appeared in periodicals; her single poetry collection was compiled posthumously by Sir Leslie Stephen, editor of the Cornhill Magazine from 1871 to 1882. Titled A Marriage of Shadows and Other Poems, it was published in an edition of 750 copies in 1888 by Smith, Elder, and Company.

A Marriage of Shadows comprises thirty poems, ranging from Veley's first published poem, "Michaelmas Daisies," to poems presented in her prose work to unpublished pieces, such as verses she scribbled in Christmas cards. A Marriage of Shadows was received favorably, as a review in the 28 July 1888 issue of The Spectator reveals: "while we admire...