Maria Edgeworth was a prolific Anglo-Irish writer of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the novel in Europe.The critic August Nemo selected seven short stories that show the best of this author's work:
- The Grateful Negro
- The Prussian Vase
- The Good Aunt
- The Good French Governess
- The Orphans
- The False Key
- Tarlton