Discover the Best Books Written by Anna Sewell

Anna Sewell (/ˈsuːəl/; 30 March 1820 – 25 April 1878) was an English novelist. She is known as the author of the 1877 novel Black Beauty, her only published work, which is considered one of the top ten best-selling novels for children, although the author intended the work for an adult audience. Sewell died only five months after Black Beauty's publication, having lived long enough to see her only novel become a success.

Sewell was born on March 30, 1820, in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, into a devout Quaker family. Her father was Isaac Phillip Sewell (1793–1879), and her mother, Mary Wright Sewell (1798–1884), was a successful author of children's books. She had one sibling, a younger brother named Philip. The children were largely educated at home by their mothers due to a lack of money for schooling.

In 1822, Isaac's business, a small shop, failed, and the family moved to Dalston, London. Life was difficult for the family, and Isaac and Mary frequently sent Philip and Anna to stay with Mary's parents in Buxton, Norfolk. In 1832, when she was twelve, the family moved to Stoke Newington, and Sewell attended school for the first time. At fourteen, Sewell slipped and severely injured her ankles. 

For the rest of her life, she could not stand without a crutch or walk for any length of time. For greater mobility, she frequently used horse-drawn carriages, which contributed to her love of horses and concern for the humane treatment of animals through both remaining active in evangelical circles. 

Her mother expressed her religious faith most noticeably by authoring a series of evangelical children's books, which Sewell helped to edit, though all the Sewells, and Mary Sewell's family, the Wrights, engaged in many other good works. Sewell assisted her mother, for example, in establishing a working men's club and worked with her on temperance and abolitionist campaigns

In 1845, the family moved to Lancing, and Sewell's health began to deteriorate. She traveled to Europe the following year to seek treatment. On her return, the family continued to relocate – to Abson near Wick in 1858 and to Bath in 1864. In 1866, Philip's wife died, leaving him with seven young children to care for, and the following year the Sewells moved to Old Catton, a village outside the city of Norwich in Norfolk, to support him.