Clara Reeve

Clara Reeve (23 January 1729 – 3 December 1807) was an English novelist best known for the Gothic novel ''The Old English Baron'' (1777). She also wrote an innovative history of prose fiction, ''The Progress of Romance'' (1785). Her first work was a translation from Latin, at the time a language unusual for a woman to learn. She was a near-contemporary of the bluestockings ladies of Elizabeth Montague's circle. Provided by Wikipedia