Linda Kelly (author)


Linda Kelly was an English historian whose expertise was in late 18th and early 19th century romanticism.
Her books include The Marvellous Boy: the Life and Myth of Thomas Chatterton ; The Young Romantics: Paris 1827-1837 ; The Kemble Era: John Philip Kemble, Sarah Siddons and the London Stage ; Women of the French Revolution ; Juniper Hall: An English Refuge from the French Revolution ; Richard Brinsley Sheridan ; Susanna, the Captain and the Castrato: Scenes from the Burney Salon, 1779-80 ; Ireland's Minstrel: A Life of Tom Moore: Poet, Patriot and Byron's Friend ; Holland House: a History of London's Most Celebrated Salon and Talleyrand in London: The Master Diplomat's Last Mission.
These books have been widely praised as small masterpieces, and Kelly might be described as mistress of a genre of non-fiction novella. The flavour of her work is indicated by Lucy Dallas's review of the second edition of The Young Romantics: 'She illuminates scenes and incidents with a judicious choice of poetry, often quoted in full and refreshingly left untranslated. This means the narrative never strays far from its subjects; nor is Kelly afraid of expressing opinions about them – Sainte-Beuve, for instance, comes across as a particularly nasty piece of work. The Young Romantics conjures up the excitement of its time and succeeds in considering, however fleetingly, the history, politics, art and intrigues of an extraordinary age.'
Kelly died on 12 January 2019, aged 82. She was the wife of the writer Laurence Kelly.