Her mother encouraged her writing, and ensured that the family library held books that would interest and educate Le Fanu.
Le Fanu moved to Leamington Spa around 1822 with her mother, following the deaths of her father and sister.
She is known to have been alive in 1844, when she received £150 from the Royal Bounty Fund, secured on her behalf by her cousin, Caroline Norton.
[6][7] However, Fitzer has determined that she died from a subdural effusion on 29 January 1867, while boarding with a family in Chipping Norton.
[3] Le Fanu's poems are moralistic fables, while her historical romances are melodramas, with some satire and elements of comedy.