Evelina Evelina is a novel written by English author Fanny Burney in 1778 . Spoiler warning : Plot and/or ending details follow . In this epistolary novel , Evelina , the title character , is the unacknowledged daughter of a dissipated English aristocrat . Eighteen years before the story begins , Evelina 's father , Sir John Belmont , refused to acknowledge his marriage to her mother , Caroline Evelyn , after he failed to secure her sizeable fortune . Evelina 's mother dies in childbirth , and Evelina is raised in seclusion by the Reverend Villars , her guardian . When Evelina grows up to be a beautiful and intelligent young woman , she travels to London with her friends , the Mirvans . She is introduced to society and falls in love with the handsome Lord Orville . However , her ill-bred relatives , and in particular her vulgar grandmother , Madame Duval , as well as the obstinate attentions of the duplicitous Sir Clement Willoughby frustrate her happiness . In an effort to secure her proper station in society , Evelina 's friends contact Sir John Belmont , hoping he will finally acknowledge his daughter . Belmont repulses them , announcing that , far from abandoning his daughter , he has raised her since her mother 's death . During a confrontation with her estranged father , Evelina finally discovers that her childhood nurse has passed off her own daughter as Evelina to Sir John . When the deception is revealed , Belmont recognizes Evelina , and she marries Lord Orville . Spoilers end here . Written in secret over a period of several years , Evelina was published anonymously in the winter of 1778 . Only after the novel became an enormous success , and garnered glowing reviews , did Frances , notoriously shy , acknowledge her authorship . The novel was a great success in Burney 's own lifetime , translated into multiple languages , and a number of print editions . Her father , Charles Burney , was a friend of the leading men of the age , and Frances herself knew most of these distinguished writers and artists . None of her subsequent novels achieved the success of Evelina , but it was very well received , and the novel compares favorably with the early novels of Jane Austen . A great deal of attention has been focused on Evelina since the 1980s , as Burney has begun to reach new audiences and earn critical reappraisal . Some critics have seen the novel as autobiography , as Burney felt unacknowledged by her famously strict father . Characters Evelina Anville - Evelina is the main character through a variety of letters that make up the story . Through the letters she summarizes experiences in her life . Miss Belmont - She is the daughter of Dame Green . Reverend Arthur Villars - Tutors Evelina 's grandfather Sources Summary on Evelina by Fanny Burney Study guide reference . Used the plot summary and character descriptions . External links Evelina , available freely at Project Gutenberg Free digitally-voiced audiobook of Evelina at Babblebooks.com Categories : 1778 novels | Epistolary novels 6053 Evelina 