Mimic Life; or Before and Behind the Curtain by Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie (1819 - 1870)

Mimic Life; or Before and Behind the Curtain is a collection of three narratives about life in the theater based on Mowatt’s career on stage. The stories, “Stella,” “The Prompter’s Daughter,” and “The Unknown Tragedian” reveal the every-day challenges faced by Victorian theatrical workers and argue against prejudices against this profession still held by many people at that time. - Summary by Kelly S. Taylor