Carey, Rosa Nouchette: Esther. v1. 31 Jul 2013
 

Rosa Nouchette Carey (27 September 1840 – 9 July 1909) was an English children's novelist. Born in Stratford-le-Bow, Rosa was the sixth of the seven children of William Henry Carey (d. 1867), shipbroker, and his wife, Maria Jane (d. 1870), daughter of Edward J. Wooddill. She was brought up in London at Tryons Road, Hackney, Middlesex and in South Hampstead. She was educated at home and at the Ladies' Institute, St John's Wood, where she was a contemporary and friend of the German-born poet Mathilde Blind (1841–1896). Her first novel, Nellie's Memories (1868), arose out of stories she had told to her younger sister.

Excerpt
Girls, even the best of them, have their whims and fancies, and I never looked at myself in the glass on high days and holidays, when a festive garb was desirable, without a scornful protest, dumbly uttered, against so shining a name. There was such a choice, and I would rather have been Deborah or Leah, or even plain Susan, or Molly; anything homely, that would have suited my dark, low-browed face. Tall and angular, and hard-featured—what business had I with such a name?