40 more Edwardians! And only 38 to go (I eliminated two of the
original 160 because, as it turned out, they both stopped publishing at the very beginning of my time frame.)
There were fewer writers in
this batch who caught my eye—a LOT of writers of romance and melodrama here—but
many of the ones who did seem to have a lot of potential. The "OCEF"
mentioned here and there below, in case you missed the earlier updates, refers
to The Oxford Companion to Edwardian
Fiction, in which I first came across most of the writers in these four Edwardian
updates.
The women who caught my eye
this time:
MARGARET
LEGGE,
whose novels OCEF compares with those
of May Sinclair.
SARAH BROOM
MACNAUGHTON, who was a nurse during the Boer War and World War I and
wrote, as OCEF puts it, "intelligent,
humorous, mildly feminist fiction, often set in high society"; also of
interest are A Woman's Diary of the War
(1915) and two autobiographical works on which MacNaughton worked just before
her premature death, which were published as My War Experiences in Two Continents (1919) and My Canadian Memories (1920).
Sarah Broom MacNaughton |
MARY
E[LIZABETH]. MANN, whose novels and stories were compared by contemporary critics to
Hardy; some of Mann's works have been reprinted recently by Larkspress, including Astray in Arcady (1910), which their
website describes as follows: "Charlotte Poole, a London novelist,
descends upon Dulditch to ‘study the native at first hand’. The characters of
the village provide much material for her dry wit, expressed in letters to her
son and her friend, Hildred."
[Larkspress also has some other interesting titles, so I've added a link
to my "Sympatico Sites" list for them.]
F[RANCES]. F[REDERICA]. MONTRESOR, whose novels OCEF
describes as "intelligent romantic fiction" and whose The Strictly Trained Mother (1913)
sounds particularly interesting: "a quiet satirical comedy about the
elderly, bullied mother of two strong-minded daughters who conspires with a
suffragette granddaughter to escape from them."
LORNA MOON,
whose dramatic life as a successful screenwriter in Hollywood ended tragically
with an early death from tuberculosis, but not before she published a story
collection, Doorways in Drumorty
(1925), and an acclaimed novel, Dark Star
(1929), both of which make use of her harsh childhood in rural Scotland. Her Collected
Works, published in 2002, also include letters and poetry, and that volume
is still in print. Her third child,
Richard de Mille, whose father was Cecil
B. DeMille's brother (the spelling difference in the names is due to the film director's changing it to make it more memorable to audiences) and who was adopted by DeMille himself, has also written a book, My Secret Mother, about his research on
Moon—which included discovering the two earlier children she had had with two
different men and abandoned before ending up in Hollywood. One source online from 2009 said that a
Scottish film director was trying to produce a film about Moon, though I found
no information about an active project on IMDB.
Lorna Moon, who had an interesting life (to say the least) |
LESLIE MOORE,
whose eccentric novels of literary and artistic life—Aunt Olive in Bohemia, or, The Intrusions of a Fairy Godmother
(1913) and The Peacock Feather: A Romance
(1913)—sound intriguing. Google Books
shows several other titles that also look like novels, including The Jester (1915), The Wiser Folly (1916), and Antony
Gray, Gardener (1917).
There
are also a few other writers with prominent connections:
MARIE CONNOR LEIGHTON, mother of Vera Brittain's fiancé, Ronald Leighton,
who was killed in World War I and whom Brittain writes about extensively in her
memoir Testament of Youth.
JANE ELLEN PANTON, who was the daughter of
painter William Frith and sister of novelist Walter Frith.
and MABEL QUILLER-COUCH, sister of prominent
novelist, critic, and anthologist Arthur Quiller-Couch, who published under the
pseudonym "Q."
Happy exploring!
Current count: 571
ROSAMOND LANGBRIDGE
(1880-1964)
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|
Author of "marriage
problem novels of a mildly racy kind" (OCEF), including The Flame
and the Flood (1903), The Stars Beyond
(1907), Imperial Richenda: A Fantastic
Comedy (1908), The Single Eye
(1924), The Golden Egg (1927), and The Green Banks of Shannon (1929).
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MARGARET LEGGE
(1872-1957)
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|
Author
of seven novels of the 1910s and 1920s, which OCEF compares with those of May Sinclair; titles include A Semi-Detached Marriage (1912), The Rebellion of Esther (1914), The Wane of Uxenden (1917), and A Tempestuous Daughter (1924).
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MARIE CONNOR LEIGHTON
(1869-1941)
(aka Mrs. Robert Leighton)
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Mother
of Ronald Leighton, Vera Brittain's fiancé who was killed in WWI; prolific
author of romance novels and thrillers, including Convict 413L (1910), The
Silver Stair (1914), The Shame of
Silence (1917), and Lucile Dare,
Detective (1919).
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MRS. DISNEY LEITH (????-1926)
(pseudonym of Mary Charlotte
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Poet,
translator (from Icelandic), children's author, and novelist; much of her
work is Victorian, but her late novels, including A Black Martinmas (1912) and its sequel Lachlan's Widow (1913), fall within my scope.
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SYBIL CAMPBELL
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Popular
and prolific novelist from the 1910s to the 1940s; Gnats and Camels (1924) is about a young woman rebelling against
her stuffy family; other titles include The
Shoreless Sea (1912), The Odds
Against Her (1925), Sweet Fruit
(1935), and Old Hillersley's Heiress
(1940).
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WINIFRED M. LETTS
(1882-1972)
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Playwright,
poet, children's author, and novelist; works include Diana Dethroned (1909), Naughty
Sophia (1912), The Rough Way
(1912), Christina's Son (1915), Corporal's Corner (1919), and a memoir
called Knockmaroon (1933).
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MAUDE LITTLE (1890-????)
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Author
of four novels, which sound a bit on the melodrama side—At the Sign of the Burning Bush (1910), A Woman on the Threshold (1911), The Children's Bread: A Romance (1912), and The Rose-Coloured Room (1915).
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ELLA MACMAHON (ca.
1867-1956)
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Novelist
who specialized in themes of marital infidelity and deception; works include The Court of Conscience (1908), The Job (1914), John Fitzhenry (1920), Mercy
and Truth (1923), and Wind of Dawn
(1927).
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RACHEL SWETE MACNAMARA
(????-1947)
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Author
of several dozen novels often set in her native Ireland and sometimes pushing
the boundaries of sexual content; titles include The Awakening (1914), Jealous
Gods (1921), A Fortune for Two
(1928), and Duet for a Trio (1933),
which Norah Hoult reviewed with qualified praise.
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SARAH BROOM
MACNAUGHTON (1864-1916)
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|
Nurse,
diarist, and novelist of "intelligent, humorous, mildly feminist fiction"
(according to OCEF), including The Fortune of Christina M'Nab (1901),
The Three Miss Graemes (1908), and Four-Chimneys (1912); her unfinished
memoir appeared as My Canadian Memories
(1920.
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|
MARY E[LIZABETH]. MANN
(1848–1929)
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|
Author
of several dozen novels and story collections that were well-received in her
day and garnered comparisons with Hardy; titles include Rose at Honeypot (1906), Astray
in Arcady (1910), and The Pedlar's
Pack (1918); Larkspress in the U.K. has recently reprinted several of her
books.
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CHARLOTTE MANSFIELD
(1881-1936)
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Author
of melodramatic novels, some incorporating the supernatural, as well as a well-received
book about her travels in Africa, Via
Rhodesia (1911); fiction includes Torn Lace (1904), The Girl and the Gods
(1906), and Strings (1920), the last a "horror novel about a sinister
violin" (!!!).
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AMY MCLAREN (dates
unknown)
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Scottish novelist of light
fiction, including From a Davos Balcony
(1903), the popular Bawbee Jock (1910),
Through Other Eyes (1914), and Donald's Trust (1919).
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LOTTIE MCMANUS (c.1850-1941)
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Novelist and memoirist
whose White Light and Flame (1929)
explores her own conflicted feelings about England and Ireland; novels
include In Sarsfield's Days (1906)
and Nuala: The Story of a Perilous
Quest (1908).
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G[ERALDINE]. E[DITH]. MITTON (????-1955)
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Author of travel books such
as A Bachelor Girl in Burma (1907),
children's biographies of Jane Austen (1905) and Captain Cook (1927), and
novels including The Gifts of Enemies
(1900), The Opportunist (1902), The Two-Stringed Fiddle (1919), and Bitter Harvest (1926).
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K. L. MONTGOMERY
(pseudonym of Kathleen Montgomery [1863-1960] and
Letitia Montgomery [????-1930])
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Sisters who worked together
as translators and novelists, generally historical romances; titles include The Ark of the Curse (1906), The Gate-Openers (1912), and Maids of Salem (1915).
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F[RANCES].
F[REDERICA]. MONTRESOR (1843-1934)
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Novelist whose "intelligent
romantic fiction" sounds intriguing, especially The Strictly Trained Mother (1913)—described by OCEF as "a quiet satirical comedy
about the elderly, bullied mother of two strong-minded daughters who
conspires with a suffragette granddaughter to escape from them."
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LORNA MOON (1886-1930)
(pseudonym of Nora Wilson Low)
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A successful screenwriter
for the likes of Cecil B. DeMille, Moon contracted tuberculosis and during
her treatment wrote a story collection, Doorways
in Drumorty (1925), and an acclaimed novel, Dark Star (1929), about her youth in Scotland; her Collected Works are currently in print.
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LESLIE MOORE (dates unknown)
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Children's author and
novelist; two or Moore's works sound irresistible—Aunt Olive in Bohemia, or, The Intrusions of a Fairy Godmother
(1913) and The Peacock Feather: A
Romance (1913), both of which deal humorously with the literary and
artistic life.
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EVA MARIE LOUISA NAPIER
(1846-1930)
(née MacDonald, aka
Baroness Napier of Magdala)
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Novelist
of romantic melodrama whose works include A
Stormy Morning (1908), How She
Played the Game (1910), Can Man Put
Asunder? (1911), Muddling Through
(1912), and Half a Lie (1916).
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ROSAMOND NAPIER (1879-1976)
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Author of seven romantic
novels spread over nearly 30 years, including The Heart of a Gypsy (1909), Tess
Harcourt (1913), Release
(1921), and Alpine Episode (1938); Indian Embers (1949) is a memoir of
her life in India with her husband, a member of the Indian Civil Service.
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MRS. GEORGE NORMAN
(dates unknown)
(pseudonym of Melesina
Mary Blount, née Mackenzie)
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Author
nearly a dozen light romantic novels from the 1900s through 1920s; titles
include Delphine Caifrey (1911), The Silver Dress (1912), The Wonderful Adventure (1914), and The Town on the Hill (1927); her
sister Margaret helped get Daisy Ashford's The Young Visitors published.
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MARY OPENSHAW
(????-1928)
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Author
of several novels from 1908 to the 1920s, some historical and most partaking
of melodramatic themes; titles include The
Cross of Honour (1910), Sunshine:
The Story of a Pure Heart (1914), Laughter
Street, London (1920), and Madame
Lucifer (1924).
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GERTRUDE PAGE
(1873-1922)
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Novelist
who often wrote about life in Rhodesia, where she lived from 1900 with her
husband; titles include Love in the
Wilderness: The Story of Another African Farm (1907), Where Strange Roads Go Down (1913), and
The Rhodesian (1912).
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J[ANE]. E[LLEN]. PANTON
(1848-1923)
(aka Mrs. J. A. Panton,
née Frith)
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Daughter
of painter William Frith and sister of novelist Walter Frith; journalist,
advice writer, memoirist, and novelist; her memoirs, starting with Leaves from a Life (1908), give
insight into Victorian artistic circles; novels include A Cannibal Crusader (1908).
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MARY LUCY PENDERED
(1858-1940)
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Biographer and author of
numerous light comedies of village life, of which At Lavender Cottage (1912), about a spinster falling in love,
sounds most entertaining; others include Phyllida
Flouts Me (1913), The Silent
Battlefield (1918), and Mortmain
(1928).
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F[ANNY]. E[MILY]. PENNY
(1847-1939)
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Prolific
popular novelist whose works were often set in India, where she lived for
many years; some explored conflicts of culture and religion, others sound
more light-hearted in tone; works include The
Outcaste (1912), Desire and Delight
(1919), and Get on with the Wooing
(1931).
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MRS. H. H. PENROSE
(1860-????)
(pseudonym of Mary
Elizabeth Penrose, née Lewis)
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Author of mostly light,
humorous novels from The Love that
Never Dies (1898) to Charles the
Great: A Very Light Comedy (1912), The
Brat: A Trifle (1913), The House of
Rennel (1913), and Two Young
Pigeons (1915); her death date is unknown, but she stopped publishing
after 1915.
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ALICE PERRIN (1867-1934)
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Author
of romantic novels of Anglo-Indian life, including The Charm (1910), The Woman
in the Bazaar (1914), and The Vow
of Silence (1920); her story collection, East of Suez (1901), was compared to Kipling, while Red Records (1906) contains stories of
the supernatural.
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HELEN PROTHERO-LEWIS
(dates unknown)
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Author
of sentimental romantic novels, including Tobias and the Angel (1908), As God
Made Her (1919), The Fire Opal (1922), and These Our Misdoings (1928).
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DAISY HUGH PRYCE (dates
unknown)
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Novelist of the 1890s to
1910s whose works include Deyncourt of
Deyncourt (1907), A Diamond in the
Dust (1909), The Ethics of Evan
Wynne (1913), and Hill Magic
(1914), about a man in a Welsh village who adopts an orphan.
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MABEL QUILLER-COUCH
(1866-1924)
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Sister
of Arthur Quiller-Couch (aka "Q") and author of children's books
and novels, often set in Cornwall, including The Carroll Girls, or, How the Sisters Helped (1906), On Windycross Moor (1910), A Cottage Rose (1920), as well as Cornwall's Wonderland: Legends of Old
Cornwall (1914).
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RINA RAMSAY (dates
unknown)
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Writer of seven romantic
novels which often feature hunting scenes, including The Straw (1909), Barnaby
(1910), Impossible She (1912), and Step in the House (1926); also wrote
numerous stories in periodicals, many of which apparently had themes of
suspense or horror.
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OLIVIA RAMSEY (dates
unknown)
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Published
nine light, humorous novels 1909-1914, then apparently vanished; titles
include Sylvia and the Secretary (1909),
Two Men and a Governess (1912), A Girl of No Importance (1913), and Callista in Revolt (1914).
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MAUD STEPNEY RAWSON
(dates unknown)
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Author of historical
romances from the 1900s to 1920s, including A Lady of the Regency (1901), The
Enchanted Garden (1907), The
Labourer's Comedy (1910), The
Watered Garden (1913), and The
Magic Gate (1917).
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AMY DORA REYNOLDS
(1860-1957)
(aka Mrs. Fred Reynolds)
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Author
of mystery and romance novels from the 1880s to 1930s; titles include As Flows the River (1911), The Woman Flinches (1913), Miss Anne Tankerton (1926), The Loram Picture (1930), and Green Stockings (1933).
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KATHLYN
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Sister
of Hylda Ball; author of children's fiction, mysteries, and more than fifty
romances, often set in exotic locales, including The Lure of the Desert (1916), Desert Lovers (1922), Desert
Nocturne (1939), and It Happened in
Cairo (1944).
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GRACE RHYS (1865-1929)
(née Little)
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Children's author, poet,
and novelist whose works were often set in Ireland; titles include The Wooing of Sheila (1901), The Bride (1909), The Charming of Estercel (1913), and Eleanor in the Loft (1923).
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ALICE RIDLEY (1860-1945)
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Author
of several melodramatic novels in the early years of the century, including Anne Mainwaring (1901), A Daughter of Jael (1904), and Margery Fytton (1913).
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RITA (1856-1938)
(pseudonym of Eliza
Margaret Jane Gollan, aka Mrs W. Desmond Humphreys)
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Author
of romantic novels, including Sheba
(1889), which makes use of her time in Australia as a young girl, Peg the Rake (1894), a bestseller, Souls (1903), a satire of the
"smart set," and a Victorian trilogy—Grandmother (1927), The
Wand'ring Darling (1928), and Jean
and Jeanette (1929).
|
Gertrude Page, author of well-received novels about life in Rhodesia |
Mary Pendered is a good writer! her early novel "An Englishman" (1899) published in US as "Michael Rolfe, Englishman" is excellent--rural life and manners. In that, as in "Lily Magic" (1913) she writes with social conscience and wit, too. Her ghost story "Uncanny House" (1927) is her most widely available work. Very nicely done. Most of her novels are impossible to get today.
ReplyDeleteIt was difficult to tell much about Pendered from the OCEF entry for her, so I'm glad to have input from someone who has read her. I'm adding your comments to my database for future reference. Thanks so much, this is great to know!
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