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For decades, not much has been understood about the author, among Victorian literature's most unique voices, formerly hailed as a genius by the renowned wit.

However, the public will have the opportunity to learn more with a author whose groundbreaking work explored women’s independence, Jewish identity, and homosexual longing.

“It’s rare nowadays for a organized set of a 19th-century author’s papers to be discovered,” stated a senior archivist. “We were determined to act on this to make her archive open in the place where she studied and where she spent time even in the last months of her life.”

An Illustrious Life

Amy Levy entered the world in 1861 into a middle-class Jewish family in London and entered Newnham College in 1879, rising to become the next Jewish woman among Cambridge’s first generation of female undergraduates.

She wrote three volumes of poetry, three novels – featuring Reuben Sachs and The Romance of a Shop – numerous essays and a series of articles for the Jewish Chronicle. When she took her own life in 1889, aged 27, she was regarded by her contemporaries as an extraordinary gift, with Wilde penning her eulogy and praising the “honesty, candor, and pensiveness” of her work.

A Multifaceted Persona

A leading scholar developing a biographical study about Levy said that she believed the archival materials would not only reshape academic study but also be of fascination 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 skilled and poignant writer, but she was also so complicated. She affirmed her Jewish roots, but she was also an agnostic. She seemed to have good relationships with men, but she was a woman who loved women.”

The expert explained that Levy had built a social network at Newnham and also in her subsequent life, particularly through the writer Vernon Lee “who was extremely networked to a wide circle including Wilde. Levy entered Lee’s circle, in fact she became enamored with her, a love that unfortunately was never returned.

“When Wilde received a brief piece from Levy for his magazine the Woman’s World, he was deeply impressed by the story and called Levy a girl of genius.”

An Enduring Impact

Researchers argue Levy’s work speaks directly to contemporary conversations around women's rights, queer writing and Jewish identity and say she anticipated discourse that would come years after her death.

“She was ahead of her time, which was perhaps one of the reasons she never entirely found her role,” the researcher said. “She struggled with queer identity and how she belonged in a heteronormative society. Matrimony was not an option for her, but neither was having a career like a educator, which she left behind to become a full-time author.

“She has long been of interest to people who examine Jewish women and their history. And today, when we have in the aftermath of the global pandemic so many young people struggling with depression, anxiety, mental health issues, even suicidal thoughts, understanding her might be of interest and solace to a broader audience too,” the expert said.

The Last Months

The assemblage includes Levy’s 1889 personal diary, in which increasingly sparse entries record the last months before her death from asphyxiation. A last, poignant entry, written the day before she died, said: “Alone at home all day.” But the expert 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 suffer from a triple burden of difficulties, including neuralgia. She was growing increasingly deaf, which leads to social alienation and isolation. And she also suffered from despondency.

“Though she failed to discover happiness, it was always something she upheld: the entitlement to joy, even elated.”