Sullivan (later Shillingford), Mary Ann

Mary Ann Sullivan (later Shillingford) was a British regional actress and novelist. She is best known for the novel Owen Castle; or, Which is the Heroine? (1816). There is also evidence that she may have published two more works under her married name, Happiness and Misery; or, The Contrast, an Interesting Lesson for Young Ladies (1823) and Mountain Tales. Helena; or, The Recluse of the Lake (1845). She is principally considered to be a gothic novelist for Owen Castle and Mountain Tales. Helena; or, The Recluse of the Lake, although she diverted to juvenile didactic fiction in Happiness and Misery. Sullivan’s most notable contribution to literature is the inclusion of a mixed-race heiress in Owen Castle, in which her presentation of degrees of blackness reflects popular opinion in the early nineteenth century.