Margaret Minifie

Margaret Minifie (15 July 1734 – 11 May 1803) was a "a minor eighteenth-century sentimental novelist"[1] whose career has tended to have been overshadowed by that of her sister, Susannah Gunning.

A number of Minifie's works have historically been attributed to Gunning but recently, critics have sought to disentangle their two histories.

Two novels published during this period frequently attributed to Susannah, The Count de Poland (1780) and Coombe Wood (1783), were "almost certainly"[6] written by Minifie.

Cruikshank's piece also takes aim at her profession with its depiction of her seated at a table surrounded by writing paraphernalia and cats, which was consistent with what some of their harsher critics thought of the sisters' literary productions.

[14] Margaret Minifie had a long career as a popular novelist,[15] and while she may not generally be considered a significant writer within the literary canon, her career has sparked interest among researchers interested in recovered women writers, popular fiction, sentimental novels, and the reading and publishing culture of the mid- to late eighteenth century.