Martha Meredith Read ( – ) was an American novelist and feminist author. She published two novels and a feminist tract, "A Second Vindication of the Rights of Women" (1801).

Life and career

Martha Meredith Read was born in in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, the eldest daughter of

Samuel Meredith Samuel Meredith may refer to: * Samuel Meredith (American politician) (1741–1817), American merchant and politician, Treasurer of the United States, 1789–1801 *Samuel Meredith (police officer) Captain Samuel Meredith (5 August 1794 – June 18 ...

and Margaret Cadwalader Meredith. In 1816 she married John Read. They had five children, including

John M. Read John Meredith Read Sr. (July 21, 1797 – November 29, 1874) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was one of the founders of the Republican Party and chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. ...

. In both of Read's novels, a virtuous teenage female protagonist suffers various tribulations in Philadelphia before triumph and marriage. ''Monima, or the Beggar Girl'' (1802) is set in 1790s Philadelphia. A teenage Monima Fontanbleu must care for her elderly father, once a planter in Saint Domingo, and suffers from a difficulty to find work and the plotting of her former employer. The downfall of proud and wealthy characters in this novel might have been inspired by

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

relatives of Read who lost influence upon the election of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

. ''Margaretta; or, the Intricacies of the Heart'' (1807) begins in

Elkton, Maryland Elkton is a town in and the county seat of Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,776 at the 2020 census, up from 15,443 in 2010. It was formerly called Head of Elk because it sits at the head of navigation on the Elk R ...

but its protagonist soon relocates to Philadelphia, then Santo Domingo, and finally England. She is the subject to the attention of a pair of

rakes Rakes may refer to: * The Rakes The Rakes were an English post-punk musical ensemble, band formed in London in 2003. Their first album ''Capture/Release'' released in 2005, received a nine out of ten review in the ''NME'' and was rated 13th ...

, imprisoned on a plantation, and nearly marries a man whom she discovers is her own biological father. The title of her essay "A Second Vindication of the Rights of Women" (1801) echoes

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft ( , ; 27 April 175910 September 1797) was an English writer and philosopher best known for her advocacy of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional ...

's seminal ''

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman ''A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects'' , is a 1792 feminist essay written by British philosopher and women's rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), and is one of the earliest work ...

'' (1792) and its content concurs with much of Wollstonecraft's work. Only two sections of her essay survive. Her first novel, parts of her second novel, and "Vindication" were all serialized in Isaac Ralston's short-lived newspaper '' The Ladies' Monitor''. Martha Meredith Read died in March 1816 in Harrisburg.

Bibliography

* ''Monima, or the Beggar Girl'' (1802) * ''Margaretta; or, the Intricacies of the Heart'' (1807)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Read, Martha Created via preloaddraft 1773 births 1816 deaths 19th-century American women writers American feminist writers Writers from Philadelphia