Theodora FitzGibbon, author of the WWII memoir With Love |
Nancy Brysson Morrison, author of The Gowk Storm, highly acclaimed in its day |
A mixed bag of 23 more
writers, including a few mystery writers and World War II writers who didn't
make it into the last update. I'm
particularly interested in:
Elizabeth
Ferrars' I, Said the Fly, a mystery
set in wartime London ,
which is—amazingly enough—actually available in e-book format
Theodora
FitzGibbon's memoir of life in Chelsea
during the Blitz, With Love
N.
Brysson Morrison's The Gowk Storm,
which is reportedly an understated examination of the day-to-day existence of three
young sisters living lochside in Scotland
The
light, humorous, highly-praised 1930s novels of Barbara Worsley-Gough, which
sound like fun but are steeped in darkest obscurity. A
Feather in Her Cap (1936) is, according to the Adelaide Advertiser, "a delightfully jaunty novel about the
doings of a party of young English people who visit Salzburg for the Music Festival." Admittedly, with a description like that the
book could be either a pleasant few hours' reading or an unbearably cutesy
morass. But I am eternally optimistic—at
least when it comes to long-forgotten writers.
Ah, still more titles to add
to my "to read" list!
I also said goodbye to Annie
Philippine Eichberg Lane (aka Mrs. John Lane), who, upon a bit of further
research, turned out to be American.
So, the current count: 451 writers
NINA BRADSHAW (dates
unknown)
|
|
Author
of numerous romantic novels from the 1930s to the 1950s, including Wild Sanctuary (1933), The Net Love Spread (1935), Millionaire's Widow (1938), The Way of the Huntress (1948), and Stern Sentinel (1956).
|
|
ELIZABETH FERRARS (1907-1995)
(pseudonym of Morna Doris
MacTaggart, married name Brown)
|
|
A
popular author of mystery novels from the 1940s to the 1990s, including I, Said the Fly (1945), set in wartime
London, some of which are still in print; under her real name, MacTaggart
published two mainstream novels, Turn
Simple (1932) and Broken Music
(1934).
|
|
THEODORA FITZGIBBON
(1916-1991)
|
|
Known
as a popular cookbook author, FitzGibbon published two acclaimed memoirs—With Love (1982), about WWII and her
life in Chelsea during the Blitz, and Love
Lies a Loss (1985), which covers the postwar years; she also published
one novel, The Flight of the Kingfisher
(1967).
|
|
[NAOMI] ANNE HOCKING
(1890-1966)
(aka Mona Messer)
|
|
Mystery
novelist active from the 1930s to the 1960s; titles include Walk Into My Parlour (1934), What A Tangled Web (1937), The Vultures Gather (1945), And No One Wept (1954), and Poisoned Chalice (1959).
|
|
M[ABEL]. E[MILY]. INCE
(????-1941)
|
|
Now
forgotten author of two novels of rural life, The Preacher (1935) and Man's
Estate (1937), both of which were acclaimed in their day.
|
|
IANTHE JERROLD
(1898-1977)
|
|
Largely
forgotten now, Jerrold was once a praised member of the Detection Club, as
well as a mainstream novelist; title include Dead Man’s Quarry (1930), Seaside
Comedy (1934), The Dogs Do Bark
(1936), and The Coming of Age
(1950).
|
|
MARY KELLY (1927- )
|
|
Author
of 10 acclaimed mystery novels, Kelly stopped publishing after 1974's That Girl in the Alley; other titles
include A Cold Coming (1956), The Spoilt Kill (1961, reprinted by
Virago), and Dead Corse (1966).
|
|
JANET LAING (1870-1953)
|
|
Author
of eight light, popular novels between 1903 and 1929, including the
WWI-themed Before the Wind (1918)
and Wintergreen (1921), as well as The Honeycombers (1922) and The Villa Jane (1929).
|
|
LORNA LEWIS (1910?-1962)
|
|
Primarily
known as a children's author, her novel Tea
and Hot Bombs (1943) has gained some attention in recent years for its
portrayal of the Blitz; Feud in the
Factory (1944) also deals with wartime conditions.
|
|
BESSIE MARCHANT
(1862-1941)
|
|
Prolific
author of children's fiction, usually featuring spunky girls who encounter
adventure in exotic locales before settling into domestic bliss; titles
include A Countess from Canada (1911), Harriet Goes a-Roaming (1922), and The Homesteader Girl
(1932).
|
|
N[ANCY].
BRYSSON MORRISON (1907-1986)
(aka
Christine Strathern)
|
|
Biographer
and novelist, acclaimed for her novels The
Gowk Storm (1933), The Winnowing
Years (1950), and The Hidden
Fairing (1951); also wrote numerous romantic novels under her pseudonym,
including The Buchanans Move In
(1943), Sun on His Face (1951), and
April Folly (1953).
|
|
DILYS POWELL (1901-1995)
|
|
A
prominent film critic, Powell also wrote biographies and travel books, most
notably Remember Greece (1941) and An Affair of the Heart (1958), as well
as the memoir The Villa Ariadne
(1973), about the classicists and archaeologists who stayed at the home of Sir
Arthur Evans in Crete.
|
|
GERTRUDE M[INNIE].
REYNOLDS (????-1939)
(aka Mrs. Baillie-Reynolds
and Gertrude M. Robins)
|
|
Popular
novelist whose publishing life extended from the 1880s to the 1930s; titles
include The Girl from Nowhere (1910),
The Notorious Miss Lisle (1911),
and the World War I themed The Lonely
Stronghold (1918) and Also Ran
(1920).
|
|
EDITH CAROLINE RIVETT
(1894-1958)
(aka ECR Lorac and Carol
Carnac)
|
|
Prolific
mystery novelist whose works often feature the Scottish Chief Inspector
Robert MacDonald or Inspector Julian Rivers; titles include Murder in St. John's Wood (1934), A Pall for a Painter (1936), Death Came Softly (1943), and Murder of a Martinet (1951).
|
|
HARRIET
(pseudonym of Olive
Shinwell??)
|
|
Mystery writer who apparently
published only three books—Knock,
Murder, Knock! (1938), Bleeding
Hooks (1940, aka The Poison Fly
Murder), and Blue Murder (1942).
|
|
NANCY RUTLEDGE (1901-1976)
|
|
Mystery novelist whose
works were often serialized in the Saturday
Evening Post; titles include Beware
the Hoot Owl (1944), Blood on the
Cat (1946), Murder For Millions
(1949), and Death Stalks the Bride
(1958).
|
|
SHELLEY SMITH (1912-????)
(pseudonym of Nancy Hermione Bodington)
|
|
Successful author of
psychological mysteries; titles include Death
Stalks a Lady (1945), Come and Be
Killed! (1946), Man Alone (1952,
aka The Crooked Man), The Party at No. 5 (1954), and The Lord Have Mercy (1956, aka The Shrew Is Dead).
|
|
JOAN SUTHERLAND (1890-1947)
(pseudonym of Joan Collings [married name Kelly])
|
|
Author of more than 40
novels of romantic adventure, including Beyond
the Shadow (1914), Beauty for Ashes
(1920), Onslaught (1927), Silver Mist (1935), and Dust Before the Wind (1940).
|
|
URSULA TORDAY (1912–1997)
(aka Paula Allardyce, Charity Blackstock, Lee Blackstock,
and Charlotte Keepel)
|
|
Prolific author of
mysteries and historical romance, as well as The Children (1966), about her social work with Jewish children
who survived Nazi concentration camps; novels include Dewey Death (1956), Miss
Fenny (1957), and The Knock at
Midnight (1966).
|
|
BARBARA WHITTON (dates unknown)
|
|
Untraceable novelist who
apparently published only one novel, Green
Hands (1943), an enthusiastic tale of a group of girls in the Women's
Land Army during World War II, which went through at least five printings.
|
|
SUSAN WOOLFITT (1907-1978)
|
|
Memoirist and children's
author, whose Escape to Adventure
(1948), about youngsters having adventures on the canals of
|
|
BARBARA WORSLEY-GOUGH (1903-????)
|
|
Intriguing, if utterly
forgotten, author of several highly-praised humorous novels including Public Affaires (1932), Nets to Catch the Wind (1935), A Feather in Her Cap (1936), and The Sly Hyena (1951), and two
mysteries, Alibi Innings (1954,
reprinted by Penguin) and Lantern Hill
(1957).
|
|
ESTHER TERRY WRIGHT (1913-????)
|
|
Diarist and author of two
novels; best known for Pilot's Wife's
Tale (1942), about her attempts to maintain a domestic life with her
pilot husband during World War II, and his recovery from injuries in the
Battle of Britain; her novels are The
Prophet Bird (1958) and A Vacant
Chair (1979).
|
Scott, Have you heard of Brenda Jagger? I have her novel Days of Grace.
ReplyDeleteHi, Elljay,
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning a writer I didn't know about. It looks like Jagger is a bit late for my list--I'm only going up to 1960 or so and Jagger's first novel seems to have been 1978. But she looks interesting, and I do appreciate the suggestion. Let me know if you think of anyone else.
Scott
Totally forgot about your time frame and forgot to mention I'm in the DES group..
ReplyDeleteLinda Jacks
Hi, Linda. Of course I know you now! I seem to recall from DES discussions that we share a lot of the same literary interests, so I'm really glad you checked in. Let me know if you have any other recommendations!
ReplyDeleteScott