Black cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

We provide an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feeling and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available. 

•         A £2 reduction when collected from FBA shop

Please view our photographs. Hardcover. Condition: Fair, NO Dust Jacket. Mary of Delight by Naomi Jacob is a compelling historical novel that follows the life of a spirited young woman as she faces the challenges of love, family, and personal ambition. Set against a richly evoked historical backdrop, the story combines vivid characterisation with themes of resilience, sacrifice, and the search for happiness. Naomi Jacob’s engaging storytelling and strong sense of time and place make this an absorbing read for lovers of classic historical fiction. 

Naomi Eleanor Clare Ellington Jacob (1 July 1884 – 27 August 1964), also known by the pen name Ellington Gray, was an English writer, actress, and broadcaster. She was also a suffragist, worked for the Entertainments National Service Association and served as an Officer in the Women’s Legion. Naomi Jacob was born on 1 July 1884 in Ripon in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the first daughter of Selina Sara “Nina” Ellington Collinson and Samuel Jacob. Jacob’s father served as headmaster of the Ripon Grammar School, where her mother also worked as teacher. Her maternal grandfather, Robert Ellington Collinson, was a mayor of the town and owner of The Unicorn Hotel of Ripon, where the Prince of Wales once stayed. Her great-grandfather Thomas was the second chief police officer in Ripon. Her father was the son of a Jewish refugee from Prussia, but rejected his Jewish ancestry. Nonetheless, Jacob was much attached to her Yiddish-speaking paternal grandfather, a tailor, who maintained Jewish traditions, and she later proudly drew attention to her Jewishness.