Thomas Day (1748-1789) was a lawyer, abolitionist and author. His first published work, a poem The Dying Negro (1773), co written with his friend John Bicknell was one of the first pieces of literature that attacked slavery and encouraged by his friend Richard Lovell Edgeworth he wrote The History of Sandford and Merton (1783-1789) one of the first books for children. Sandford and Merton was a huge bestseller and unsurprisingly it was read by such writers as Robert Southey, Charles Dickens, Leigh Hunt, Oscar Wilde and P.G. Wodehouse.
While his closest friends knew of Day's experiment and wish to create a perfect wife for himself the public learned about it only after his death. Moore tells this unusual story in objective and nonjudgmental voice. I can highly recommend this book for these who are looking for interesting and well written history/biography.
Few books that were inspired by Day's quest:
Watch and Ward by Henry James
Belinda by Maria Edgeworth
Orley Farm by Anthony Trollope
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
