Though her writings were antiquated in style, they were considered to have some literary charm and a delicate historical imagination.
Manning initially produced two books of non-fiction, followed by her first fictional work, Village Belles (first published in 1833, though some modern sources mistakenly say 1838).
She is also known for The Household of Sir Thomas More, a picture of More's home life in the form of a diary written by his daughter Margaret.
[1][2] A number of sources subsequently attributed the pseudonym of "Mary Powell" to Hannah Mary Rathbone, whose The Diary of Lady Willoughby (1844) was similar in style to Manning, and erroneously suggested that Manning had at some point married and become Mrs.
[6][7] Although inexpensive reprints of Mary Powell and The Household of Sir Thomas More were published into the 1930s, Manning's archaic style has long since fallen out of favor.