When Charlotte Smith published Marchmont in 1796, she was not only publishing a love story gone gothic, but also a fictional tale that described events of her life. Althea, the heroine of the novel, resembles Smith in both personality and action, and encounters people throughout the story who mirror those in Smith's life. Through its representations of politics, gender issues, and nature, Marchmont offered the English reader something new and set itself apart from other Romantic period works.