The Penance of Portia James (Esprios Classics)

Jessie Catherine Couvreur (pseudonym Tasma) (28 October 1848 - 23 October 1897) was an Australian novelist. In 1873 she visited Europe and between 1879 and 1883 spent much time there giving courses of lectures in French at various European cities. She also wrote for the Nouvelle Revue and received from the French government the decoration of Officier d'Académie. She revisited Tasmania but returned in 1883 to live permanently in Europe. In 1885 she married Auguste Couvreur a well-known Belgian politician and publicist. Her first novel Uncle Piper of Piper's Hill appeared serially in the Australian Journal in 1888 and was published in London in 1889 under the pseudonym of Tasma. It had an immediate success.