Clara Vaughan, his first novel, was written in 1853 and published anonymously in 1864.

[citation needed] Clara Vaughan, which takes place in the mid-19th century, is the story of the eponymous heroine, an only child whose father is mysteriously murdered when she is a young girl.

[2] It was generally well received by the public, although some reviewers at the time ascribed it to Mary Elizabeth Braddon.

Blackmore chose to revise the novel fully for a new edition with his authorship acknowledged in 1872.

There he states in a preface that he removed "many things offensive to maturer taste and judgement".