[1] In the preface, she declares that her intention is to introduce her readers to an overlooked element of Spanish culture: that of peasant folktales.
The answer is simply that such, as a fact, is the general character of the Spanish legend.”[2][3][4] The tales speak of ghosts, witches, religious miracles and werewolves.
[5] She was born in Manila, the daughter of United States Consul to the Philippines Henry Parkman Sturgis.
[6][7] The family made its fortune in trade between Canton and Manila through the firm Russell & Sturgis,[6][8] co-founded by her father in 1828 as an offshoot of Russell & Co. She was the cousin of British politician Henry Parkman Sturgis, who was named after her father.
[7] She married English translator and journalist Samuel George Chetwynd Middlemore (1848-1890) on April 18, 1881 at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, where their wedding was attended by Henry James.