Esther Johnson (March 18, 1681 - 1728) was the English friend of Jonathan Swift, known as "Stella". Newfoundland-born author Trudy J. Morgan-Cole wrote a novel in 2006 detailing fictionalized portions of the Swift/Johnson friendship in The Violent Friendship of Esther Johnson. A ward in St Patrick's Hospital is named "Stella." A curious collection of her witticisms was published by Swift under the titles on "Bon Mots de Stella" as an appendix to some editions of Gulliver's Travels. The rather unexceptional nature of most of these tells us more about Swift's high opinion of her than the quality of her wit.[1]
Publications (Fiction)
- MORGAN-COLE, Trudy J. The violent friendship of Esther Johnson, Penguin Canada, 2006.
