[3] Born in Salisbury, Massachusetts, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, it is likely that Foster (née Webster) attended an academy for women like the one she described in The Boarding School; certainly, the literary allusions and historical facts contained in her work indicate she was well educated.

[3] Whitman was seduced by an unknown suitor, became pregnant, and died shortly after the birth of her stillborn child at an inn in Danvers, Massachusetts.

[3] The best-selling novel presents Whitman's story as a morality tale against flirtatiousness, but also depicts Eliza as a sympathetic, complex character, extending the novel's purpose beyond that of simply a sermon against immorality.

[2][3] Foster's second novel, The Boarding School; or, Lessons of a Preceptress to Her Pupils, an exploration of the topic of women's education, was far less commercially successful than The Coquette.

[5][6] Cheney published A Peep at the Pilgrims in 1636, Confessions of an Early Martyr, The Rivals of Acadia and Sketches from the Life of Christ.