After her father's death, Charlotte and her mother eventually resettled in England. She began to write short stories in order to help support the family, but was unsuccessful in getting her works published until, finally, her novel Zuriel's Grandchild was accepted in 1855. The following year, she published The Moors and the Fens, which was a commercial success. In 1857, she married Joseph Hadley Riddell, a civil engineer. She then began to write under the name of Mrs. J. H. Riddell. In 1864, her fame was finally achieved with the tremendously popular George Geith of Fen Court. Her husband died in 1880 and Charlotte moved to London for a time. In 1884, she published Weird Stories, considered by many to be among the best ghost stories ever written. She was diagnosed with cancer in 1892 and over the ensuing years her health deteriorated. Nevertheless, she was a prolific author, even during these years. Her other works include The Rich Husband (1858), City and Suburb (1861), Maxwell Drewitt (1865), Austin Friars (1870), Above Suspicion (1876), The Mystery in Palace Gardens (1880), A Struggle for Fame (1883), My First Love (1890), A Rich Man's Daughter (1898), The Footfall of Fate (1900) and Poor Fellow! (1902). |
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