Frances Burney
Her mother suddenly became sick. She took a trip to Bath and Bristol Hot Wells. This is where main character in Evelina go to try to become healthy again. However, she did not get better. The sickness was thought to be tuberculosis. It is also possible that it was cancer. In 1760, her mother, Esther Sleepe Burney, died. She was described by historians as a gentle woman of "warmth and intelligence". It is possible that Esther Burney's French birth influenced Burney's writing. One example is the conflicts between Madame Duval and Captain Mirvan in Evelina. It may also have been one reason for her love of and marriage to Alexandre D'Arblay. Fanny was very shocked and sad when she heard that her mother was dead. Her neighbor, Mrs. Pringle, commented. She later said, "...she never saw such affliction" and that Fanny would "take no comfort--& was almost killed with [sic] Crying". Her father, Charles Burney, was also very unhappy. He comforted himself with writing sad poems about his wife.