Between Literature and History

This book explores the remarkable diaries and memoirs of Mary Leadbeater (1758-1826) and Dorothea Herbert (c.1767-1829), both of whom lived in Ireland. Working on the premise that their identities are literary constructions, the author investigates the cultural and existential impulses that motivate their creation. Leadbeater’s diaries span fifty-seven years and include uncensored teenage journals, which are a rarity in Western Europe. Herbert was a member of the minor gentry and her extraordina