ABSTRACT
Among contemporary Scottish novelists there was none whom Scott admired more than Susan Ferrier, whose sharp social observations created Scottish characters of verve and originality. Many of them were drawn closely from members of her own social set, giving her novels a special edge for readers who knew her. Susan Edmonstone Ferrier's first novel Marriage was written in 1810, initially as a joint venture with Charlotte Campbell’s cousin Charlotte Clavering, but was not published until 1818, anonymously. When Basil Hall wrote to Scott in 1824 with enquiries about Ferrier, her background, and the sources of her work Scott replied that he had known her for a long time and that although she had clearly been able to mix in high society, especially at Inveraray, her literary skills were the result of her powers of observation and not of any privileged social opportunities. Ferrier had a steady eye and a literary memory.
