After his death in 1879, she earned a prominent place in English literary life as a novelist, and later as a dramatist.

Lucy Clifford also wrote cinematic adaptations of her short stories and plays.

Her wide circle of literary friends included Henry James.

Lucy Clifford died in 1929, and was buried alongside her husband on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery, London.

In 2004, Gowan Dawson described Lucy's efforts to uphold the reputation of Clifford after his death:[4]