Ann Radcliffe

When she published The Mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Ward Radcliffe (1764-1823) was just shy of her thirtieth birthday. She had begun writing shortly after her marriage to journalist William Radcliffe in order to pass the time when her husband worked late, and her hobby quickly became a profitable venture. After she wrote The Italian (1797), Radcliffe mysteriously stopped publishing her works, leading to erroneous reports that she had died or become insane. She died peacefully in her bed of complications from spasmodic asthma at the age of 58.