Best known work

• A City Girl, 1887

Genres

• Fiction - Novels
• Fiction - Short Stories
• Journalism
• Politics / Philosophy / Essays

Nom de plume

Margaret Elise Harkness, John Law

Social class

Middle class

Parental background

Her father was a priest. Harkness was home-educated but sent to a finishing school at the age of twenty one. She trained as a nurse.

At publication of best known work

• Age: 33
• Marital status: Unmarried
• Number of children: 0

Physical description

"She is slight, with a pale, mobile face, and a rapid, energetic manner, has an independent income of her own, and is generous, enthusiastic, and strongly individual." (Wichita Eagle in 1890)

Did you know?

Harkness moved to Australia in 1894 and continued her writing career in the Australian press. She also wrote non-fiction, including two books for the By-Paths of Bible Knowledge series, as well as social investigation texts, an economic pamphlet called Imperial Credit, and travelogues about present-day India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Additional information

A comprehensive account of Harkness and her works can be found at The Harkives and also on The Victorian Web. The British Library has digitised some of her novels and made them freely available through the catalogue: A City Girl (1890 edn), Out of Work (1888), In Darkest London (1893 edn), and A Manchester Shirtmaker (1890). Her final novel, A Curate’s Promise (1921), has been made freely available by the Salvation Army International Heritage Centre.