First Evening, The

Catherine Ann Stevens was born on 20th September 1803 in Borough Green, Kent. She was mainly home-schooled. Her marriage to Major John Crowe seemed to be an unhappy one, although she had a son in 1823. By 1838 she was separated and living in Edinburgh where she was friends with several writers including de Quincey and Thackeray. By this time too her writing had given her both an audience and an income. In 1841 ‘The Adventures of Susan Hopley’ was the first of her books to establish her as a novelist and was followed by several others. She also wrote two plays, both with historical themes. A verse tragedy ‘Aristodemus’ (1838) and the melodramatic ‘The Cruel Kindness’ (1853) brought further but limited success. ‘The Adventures of Susan Hopley’ was reprinted several times as well as turned into a play and a penny serial. Her stories were also in demand from periodicals such as the weekly Chambers' Edinburgh Journal and Dickens's Household Words. Her own writing interests, inspired by German writers, turned to supernatural subjects. The collection ‘The Night-side of Nature’ (1848) became her most popular work. However, a bizarre episode happened in Edinburgh in February 1854, when she was discovered naked one night, convinced that spirits had rendered her invisible. After treatment she is said to have made a complete recovery. In her later literary career Crowe also wrote a number of children’s books. She now lived mainly in London though at times she settled abroad. In 1861 her finances tightened, and she sold her copyrights. In 1871 she moved to Folkstone Catherine Crowe died in Folkstone on 14th June 1876.