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For decades, not much has been known about the author, one of Victorian literature's most distinctive voices, previously hailed as a genius by Oscar Wilde.

However, readers will be able to familiarize themselves with a writer whose pioneering work examined women’s independence, Jewish heritage, and queer love.

“It’s rare nowadays for a complete collection of a 1800s author’s papers to come to light,” remarked a lead archivist. “We were determined to take the opportunity to make her archive accessible in the place where she was educated and where she spent time even in the last months of her life.”

An Illustrious Life

The author was born in 1861 into a Jewish middle-class family in London and began studies at Newnham College in 1879, establishing herself as the second Jewish female student among Cambridge’s first generation of female undergraduates.

She produced three volumes of poetry, three novels – featuring Reuben Sachs and The Romance of a Shop – many articles and a series of articles for the Jewish Chronicle. When she ended her life in 1889, just 27 years old, she was recognized by her fellow writers as an extraordinary gift, with the playwright penning her eulogy and commending the “honesty, candor, and melancholy” of her work.

A Layered Character

A leading scholar currently authoring a book project about Levy said that she felt the archival materials would not only revolutionize scholarly research but also be of appeal to a broader audience.

“I encountered Amy’s poetry years ago and they have haunted me ever since,” the scholar said. “Not only was she a fine and evocative writer, but she was also so multifaceted. She embraced her Jewish identity, but she was also an non-believer. She seemed to have good relationships with men, but she was a woman who loved women.”

The scholar explained that Levy had cultivated a community at Newnham and also in her later years, notably through Vernon Lee “who was highly sociable to a wide circle including Wilde. Levy became part of Lee’s circle, in fact she fell in love with her, a love that sadly was never returned.

“When Wilde received a short manuscript from Levy for his magazine the Woman’s World, he was astonished by the story and called Levy a prodigious talent.”

A Timeless Influence

Scholars believe Levy’s work connects meaningfully to modern discussions around feminism, LGBTQ+ literature and Jewish identity and say she predated debate that would come years after her death.

“She was ahead of her time, which was possibly one of the reasons she failed to secure her role,” the researcher said. “She grappled with her same-sex attraction and how she existed within a heteronormative society. Matrimony was not an option for her, but neither was having a profession like a school teacher, which she gave up to become a professional writer.

“She has long been interesting to people who research Jewish women and their history. And today, when we have in the wake of the worldwide health crisis so many youth struggling with melancholy, nervousness, troubled psyches, even suicidality, understanding her might be of value and comfort to a general population too,” the scholar said.

The Last Months

The assemblage includes Levy’s 1889 datebook, in which gradually dwindling entries record the closing period before her death from carbon monoxide poisoning. A last, poignant entry, written the day before she died, said: “Home by myself the entire day.” But the scholar said Levy in many ways had “a vibrant, complete, thrilling existence” too.

“She could be amusing at times, which can be seen in her writings. She did experience a triple burden of difficulties, including facial pain. She was becoming more and more hearing-impaired, which results in social alienation and loneliness. And she also suffered from depression.

“Though she never quite found happiness, it was always something she demanded: the right to be happy, even overjoyed.”