British Women Writers of Fiction 1910-1960 (Bi - Bra)

For more information about this list, please see the introduction, linked below.

INTRODUCTION
A	BA–BH	BI-BRA	BRE-BY	CA-CLA
CLE-CU	D	EA-FI	FL-GI	GL-HAR
HAS-HOL	HOO-I	J-K	L	MA
MC-MY	N-O	P-Q	R	SA-SM
SN-SY	T	U-WE	WH-Z
KEY & CITATIONS

You can download the entire list in a single PDF. Clicking on the link below will open a Google Docs page displaying the entire list in PDF. To save a copy of the PDF, just click on the little down arrow in the upper left. You can also print the list from the Google Docs page, but be warned that it now weighs in at 418 pages!

BRITISH WOMEN WRITERS OF FICTION 1910-1960 (PDF)

Updated 6/9/2017

[Current total: 1,893 writers]

BIBESCO, ELIZABETH [CHARLOTTE LUCY] (26 Feb 1897 – 7 Apr 1945) (née Asquith, aka Princess Bibesco) 1920s – 1940s Daughter of Margot ASQUITH. Poet, playwright, novelist, and short story writer. The Nation compared her stories to Mansfield and James, while Marcel Proust said that she "was probably unsurpassed in intelligence by any of her contemporaries." She wrote four novels—The Fir and the Palm (1924), which was serialized in the Washington Post, of all places, There is No Return (1927), Portrait of Caroline (1931), and The Romantic (1940)—and three story collections—I Have Only Myself to Blame (1921), Balloons (1922), and The Whole Story (1925). A collection of selected stories, poems, and aphorisms appeared in 1951 as Haven, with an impressive introduction by no lesser figure than Elizabeth BOWEN. Bibesco lived in Romania during World War II, having married Prince Antoine Bibesco (for whom Enid BAGNOLD was rumored to have a passion as well), and she died of pneumonia there at age 48.

BICKLE, JUDITH BRUNDRETT (1886 – 16 Apr 1965) (née Bower, aka J. Tweedale, aka Judith Tweedale) 1930s, 1960s Primarily known as a poet (her Collected Poems appeared in 1948), Bickle also wrote two novels—The Unimaginable Flowers (1935) and Village of Rosemary (1965), about which little information is available.

BIDWELL, MARJORIE [ELIZABETH SARAH] (20 Jun 1900 – 21 Jan 1985) (née Lambe, aka Elizabeth Ford, aka Mary Ann Gibbs) 1930s – 1980s Author of nearly 60 novels, including romantic suspense (and perhaps other general fiction, some of it historical) under her Ford pseudonym and historical romance under her Gibbs pseudonym. Among the former are Fog (1933), The House with the Myrtle Trees (1942), The Young Ladies' Room (1945), The Irresponsibles (1946), Spring Comes to the Crescent (1949), Just Around the Corner (1952), Outrageous Fortune (1955), The Cottage at Drimble (1957), A Week by the Sea (1962), Limelight for Jane (1970), and Open Day at the Manor (1977). Among the latter are A Young Man with Ideas (1950), A Bit of a Bounder (1952), Young Lady with Red Hair (1957, aka The Penniless Heiress), The Years of the Nannies (1960), Horatia (1961), The Apothecary's Daughter (1962), The Sugar Mouse (1965), The Moon in a Bucket (1972), A Most Romantic City (1976), and The Marquess (1982). Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers summed up Bidwell's historical romance novels: "A plucky girl with a zest for life and a refusal to let its adversities overwhelm her characterize the type of heroine always present in a Mary Ann Gibbs romance."

BIGGS, MARGARET (9 Jul 1929 -         ) 1950s, 2000s Author of 14 works of children's fiction, most of them school stories. She is best known for her Melling School series, which originally included seven books—The Blakes Come to Melling (1951), The New Prefect at Melling (1952), Last Term for Helen (1953), Head Girl at Melling (1954), Susan in the Sixth (1955), The New Girl at Melling (1956), and Summer Term at Melling (1957). In the 2000s, when Girls Gone By began reprinting the series, Biggs added two new volumes, Kate at Melling (2008) and Changes at Melling (2009). Her other books are Triplets at Royders (1950), a collaboration with Jacqueline BLAIRMAN, Christmas Term at Vernley (1951), Bobby at Hill House (1954), Dilly Goes to Ambergate (1955) and The Two Families (1958).

BIGLAND, EILEEN (29 May 1898 – 11 Apr 1970) (née Carstairs) 1930s – 1950s Best known for her "witty and sensitive accounts of travel in exotic places swept by political upheavals" (Contemporary Authors), such as Laughing Odyssey (1937), about the Soviet Union, The Lake of the Royal Crocodiles (1939), about tropical Africa, Into China (1940), about her experiences as the first white women to travel the Burma Road, and Journey to Egypt (1949), Bigland also published nine novels, as well as biographies for younger readers. Gingerbread House (1934) is loosely autobiographical and seems to be an example of the "eccentric family" genre. Others are Doctor's Child (1934), Alms for Oblivion (1937), This Narrow World (1938), Conflict with a God (1938), You Can Never Look Back (1940), Miranda (1947), Clown Without Background (1950), and Flower Without Root (1952). After World War II she published histories of the WRNS and the ATS (both 1946).

BINDER, PEARL (28 Jun 1904 - 1990) (originally Binderevski, married name Elwyn-Jones) 1930s – 1940s (?) Born in England to Ukrainian parents, Binder is best known as an artist, illustrator, and writer and BBC broadcaster on fashion, but she seems to have also written some fiction, including Misha and Masha (1936), a collection of stories about life in the Soviet Union, and a children's title, Misha Learns English (1942).

BINGHAM, MADELEINE [MARY] (1 Feb 1912 – 16 Feb 1988) (née Ebel, aka Julie Mannering) 1950s Primarily known as a biographer (of Mary Queen of Scots, Richard Sheridan, and Henry Irving, among others) and historian, Bingham also wrote two early novels—first, under her Mannering pseudonym, The Passionate Poet (1951), about Lord Byron, and then, under her own name, Look to the Rose (1953).

BINGLEY, BARBARA (9 Mar 1902 – 7 Nov 1972) (married name Vere-Hodge) 1930s – 1960s Playwright, children’s author, and novelist. Her one novel was The Clear Heart (1945), about a young Venetian's involvement with court intrigue in 17th century India. Earlier, she had published Tales of the Turquoise (1933), a collection of retellings of traditional Buddhist tales. She wrote six one-act plays in the 1950s, and two children’s books in the 1960s—The Story of Tit'be & His Friend Mouffette (1962) and Vicky and the Monkey People (1966), the latter set in a British community in Victorian India.

BINNIE, MARJORIE (c1894 - ????) (née Cope, earlier married name Dove?) 1930s Author of a single novel, Women with Men (1935), set in Africa. Binnie spent her early life in Singapore before moving to South Africa to farm with her husband.

BIRLEY, JULIA (13 May 1928 -            ) (née Davies) 1950s – 1960s Daughter of Margaret KENNEDY and author of four novels—The Children on the Shore (1958), about "provincial dons and their wives," The Time of the Cuckoo (1960), When You Were There (1963), and A Serpent's Egg (1966).

BISHOP, SHEILA GLENCAIRN (17 Aug 1918 - 2004) (née Paterson) 1940s – 1990s Author of more than two dozen novels, most historical romances set in the Elizabethan or Regency periods. Titles include The Durable Fire (1958), The House with Two Faces (1960), The Second Husband (1964), Impatient Griselda (1965), Penelope Devereux (1966), The Favourite Sister (1967), That Night at the Villa (1968), Goldsmith's Row (1969), No Hint of Scandal (1971), The Wilderness Walk (1972), The Parson's Daughter (1973, aka Bath Assembly), A London Season (1975), A Speaking Likeness (1976), Consequences (1980), Rosalba (1982), A Well-Matched Pair (1987), and Fair Game (1992). She seems to have also been the author of a children's book, A Silver Nutmeg and a Golden Pear (1945), a wartime title that involves golliwogs.

BLACK, DOROTHY [DELIUS ALLAN] (1890 - 1977) (married name MacLeish, aka Peter Delius) 1910s – 1970s Niece of composer Frederick Delius. Author of well over 100 romance novels, as well as numerous short stories, including many utilizing her experience of life in Burma and India. (In a 1921 article, she referred to Burma as "a paradise for women," and she raised her children there.) Her many novels include The Man with a Square Face (1916), Idle Women (1928), Wise Folly (1933), The Pineapple Garden (1935), If Sorrow Follows After (1938), Dance, Little Lady (1940), Burmese Picnic (1943), The Broken Moon (1949), The Stag at Bay (1950), The Blackthorn Winter (1953), Gentle Stranger (1956), The Unforgettable Miss Jones (1960), Sisters Three (1966), Midsummer Magic (1969), Love Belongs to Everyone (1972), and From Faraway (1974). Her memoir was The Foot of the Rainbow (1961).

BLACK, [EMMA] HERMINA [MARY] (9 Jun 1893 - 1986) (married name Lethridge) 1930s – 1980s Author of more than 70 novels of romance and romantic suspense. Titles include Forbidden Kisses (1934), The Love Hotel (1935), The Society Mannequin (1935), The Lure of the Footlights (1937), Passion's Web (1937), Yesterday's Folly (1940), Flower of the Lotus (1942), Sweet Pilgrimage (1943), Enchanted Oasis (1947), The House with the Fountains (1951), Moon Over Morocco (1951), Bitter Honey (1954), Tread on the Stars (1954), Jennifer Harlow, M.D. (1957), Cinderella in Sunlight (1958), Private Patient (1962), Danger in Montparnasse (1967), The Scent of Marigolds (1969), Romance Comes to Scotland Yard (1970), Stardust for Dreams (1973), Blue Aloes (1979), and Dangerous Masquerade (1986).

BLACKBURN, [EVELYN] BARBARA (15 Jul 1898 – 14 May 1981) (married name Leader, aka Frances Castle, aka Barbara Leader, aka Jane Grant) 1920s – 1960s Author of more than two dozen romantic novels, including Return to Bondage (1926), Courage for Martha (1930), Marriage and Money (1931) Lover Be Wise (1934), Abbots Bank (1948), Georgina Goes Home (1951), Star Spangled Heavens (1953), Summer at Sorrelhurst (1954), The Buds of May (1955), Green for Lovers (1958), Lovers' Meeting (1962), City of Forever (1963), and Tara's Daughter (1970).

BLACKBURN, ELIZABETH [JOHANNA MARGARET] VERNON (22 Sept 1841 - 1921) (married name Vernon Blackburn, but seems to have gone by Blackburn, née Sang) 1910s Author of a single novel, The Duchess Ilsa: A Page from the Secret Memoirs of the Court of Hohenau-Sesselstadt (1914), about which details are scarce.

BLACKMORE, JANE [STUART] (11 Mar 1914 – 25 Jul 2005) (née Blackmore) 1940s – 1970s Author of more than 40 romantic novels to at least the late 1970s, after which it becomes difficult to distinguish retitled reprints from new works. Titles include Towards To-Morrow (1941), They Carry a Torch (1943), Snow in June (1947), The Square of Many Colours (1948), The Bridge of Strange Music (1952), Three Letters to Pan (1955), Storm in the Family (1956), Beware the Night (1958), Tears in Paradise (1959), The Night of the Stranger (1961), Joanna (1963), Gold for My Girl (1967), Broomsticks in the Hall (1971), and Ravenden (1976). Her maiden and married names are the same—did she marry a cousin or is it coincidence?

Blackstock, Charity           see TORDAY, URSULA

Blackstock, Lee           see TORDAY, URSULA

BLAIKLEY, EDITHA L[EIGHTON]. (dates unknown) 1910s – 1930s Author of four novels and two plays. The novels are Dorothy Gayle (1912), The Enchanted Pen (1919), Alone in a Crowd (1931), and Lady Springmead (1938). Her diary from World War II was independently published as "No Soldier": The 1942 Diary of Miss Editha Blaikley of Wren Cottage (1992).

Blair, Joan           see OLIVER, JANE and STAFFORD, ANN

Blair, Kathryn           see WARREN, LILLIAN

BLAIRMAN, JACQUELINE [HARRIS] (1927 -     ) (married name Pinto, aka Jacqueline Pinto) 1940s Author of three school stories which deal humorously with class and pretense—The Headmistress in Disgrace (1949), A Rebel at St Agatha's (1949), and Triplets at Royders (1950, co-authored with Margaret BIGGS)—and of a later series, under her married name, beginning with The School Gala Disaster (1985).

Blake, Andrea           see WEALE, ANNE

Blake, Monica           see MUIR, MARIE

BLATHWAYT, [MARJORIE] JEAN (17 Sept 1918 – 7 Sept 1999) 1950s – 1970s A nurse and nursery school teacher as well as author, Blathwayt published more than a dozen books for children, including Uncle Paul's House (1957), The Well Cabin (1957), Jenny Leads the Way (1958), Jo's Neighbours (1958), The Beach People (1960), The Mushroom Girl (1960), The Fisherman's Little Girl (1961), Peter's Adventure (1961), On the Run for Home (1965), House of Shadows (1967), Lucy's Brownie Road (1970), River in the Hills (1971), and Lucy's Last Brownie Challenge (1972).

BLAZEY, [CLARA] WINIFRED (1892 - 1964) 1930s – 1940s Best known in mystery trivia as a close friend and sometime roommate of Gladys MITCHELL, Blazey also wrote four novels in her own right—Dora Beddoe (1936), a psychological drama with crime elements, Indian Rain (1938), set in 18th century India, The Crouching Hill (1941), and Grace Before Meat (1942), set before the war and dealing with a young village schoolteacher who encounters a murder.

BLIGH BOND, MARY [THEODORA ST. VINCENT] (1895 - 1968) (married names Milward and Saunders) 1920s Daughter of Frederick Bligh Bond, architect and ghost hunter, and author of a single novel, Avernus (1924), described as a fantasy novel dealing with reincarnation.

BLISS, ELIOT (12 Jun 1903 – 10 Dec 1990) (pseudonym of Eileen Nora Lees Bliss) 1930s Born in Jamaica to English parents, Bliss was the author of two novels, Saraband (1931), about a young girl growing up in the years before, during, and after World War I, and Luminous Isle (1934), in which a young woman returns to her birthplace in Jamaica after years in England. Both were reprinted by Virago in the 1980s. In 2015, her poems were collected as Spring Evenings in Sterling Street. According to Virago's bio, Bliss's friends in London included Dorothy RICHARDSON, Vita SACKVILLE-WEST, and Jean RHYS.

BLOOM, URSULA [HARVEY] (11 Dec 1892 – 29 Oct 1984) (married names Denham-Cookes and Robinson, aka Sheila Burns, aka Mary Essex, aka Rachel Harvey, aka Lozania Prole, aka Deborah Mann, aka Sara Sloane) 1920s – 1980s Reportedly the author of 560 books, and once the Guiness Book of World Records most prolific female author, Bloom wrote under her own name as well as multiple pseudonyms, some of which had distinct styles. According to ODNB, her more straightforward romances, which she found "silly and light," were published under her own name and as Sheila Burns. She wrote historical novels as Lozania Prole, hospital novels as Rachel Harvey, and "modern romances" as Mary Essex. She also wrote a number of memoirs, including War Isn't Wonderful (1961), about her experiences in World War II. There's an entire website devoted to Bloom's work, which you can view here.

BLOUNT, REBECCA (dates unknown) 1920s Untraced author of a single girls' school story, Schooldays (1921), about an old-fashioned school being superceded by more modern schools. Sims and Clare note that it may be autobiographical.

BLUMENFELD, JOSEPHINE [SALIE] (14 Oct 1903 - 1982) (married name Bott) 1930s – 1960s Wife of Pan Books founder Alan Bott. Best known for seven volumes of humorous anecdotes and short stories—Shrimps for Tea (1930), "Dip, Lizzie, Dip" and Other Stories (1935), Heat of the Sun (1948), Step This Way (1951), Birds on the Roof (1960), See Me Dance the Polka (1962), and The Sun Is Up (1969). In reviewing Birds on the Roof, the Times Literary Supplement wrote: "Miss Blumenfeld creates her own world where the trivial is highlighted by a very individual style into achieving a significance." She also wrote a single novel, Pin a Rose on Me (1958), the “madcap” tale of “a middle-aged English woman's quest for independence,” which I discussed here.

BLUNDELL, AGNES [MARY FRANCES] (9 Jun 1884 – 4 Mar 1966) 1910s – 1940s Daughter of M. E. FRANCIS, with whom she published several children’s books, and sister of Margaret BLUNDELL. Author of several novels on her own, some or all with Catholic themes and some historical. Titles include Pension Kraus (1912), Ancient Lights (1928), The Living Voice (1931), The Robber's Cave (1933), The Master's Forge (1933), In Peril for the King (1934), The Net (1937), The Three Cs (1945), and Cloaked Malice (1950).

BLUNDELL, MARGARET [ELIZABETH CLEMENTINA MARY] (19 Nov 1881 - 1964) 1910s – 1920s Daughter of M. E. FRANCIS and sister of Agnes BLUNDELL. Novelist and biographer who collaborated with her mother on Lady Jane and the Smallholders (1924) and published two solo novels, Katherine of the Barge (1911) and Wood Sanctuary (1930).

Blundell, Mary           see FRANCIS, M. E.

BLUNT, SIBELL LILIAN (14 Aug 1878 – 20 May 1962) (née Mackenzie) 1900s – 1930s Author of nine novels, primarily of exotic romance, sometimes mixed with fantasy. Titles are Sons of the Milesians (1906), The Days of Fire (1908), Out of the Dark (1910), The Golden Guard (1912), The Decoy (1914), Whosoever Shall Receive (1924), The Temple of the Winds (1925), Heremon the Beautiful (1930), and Zeo the Scythian (1935).

BLYTON, ENID [MARY] (11 Aug 1897 – 28 Nov 1968) (married names Pollock and Waters, aka Mary Pollock) 1920s – 1960s Hugely prolific and successful children's author. Although much of her work is for young children, she also published several series for older children, including the "Malory Towers" school novels (1946-51), the "St Clare's" school stories (1941-1945), a mystery series beginning with The Rockingdown Mystery (1949), the "Five" series (1942-1963), and the "Secret Seven" series (1949-63).

BODEN, HILDA (27 Sept 1901 – 17 Feb 1988) (pseudonym of Hilda Bodenham, née Morris) 1940s – 1970s Prolific children’s author whose works often featured horses. Titles like Pony Trek (1948) and One More Pony (1952) were followed by six tales of the Marlow family and Boden’s own favorite work, Faraway Farm (1961). Other titles include Family Affair: A Midland Chronicle (1948), Caravan Holiday (1953), Two Lost Emeralds (1958), The New Roof (1960), Joanna Rides the Hills (1961), Noel, the Brave (1963), Highland Holiday (1965), The Mystery of Castle Croome (1966), Canal House (1969), The Severnside Mystery (1970), Pedro Visits the Country (1970), and Boomerang (1973).

BOGGS, [MARY] WINIFRED (1874 – 10 Nov 1931) (aka Edward Burke, aka Gloria Manning) 1900s – 1930s Author of more than a dozen novels under her own name and two pseudonyms, including Ethel Pilcher (1907), The Return of Richard Carr (1907), Vagabond City (1911), Bachelors' Buttons: The Candid Confessions of a Shy Bachelor (1912), The Bewildered Benedict: The Story of a Superfluous Uncle (1913), The Sale of Lady Daventry (1914), Sally on the Rocks (1915), My Wife (1916), Yesterday: Being the Confessions of Barbara (1918), The Indignant Spinsters (1921), The Spinster Aunt (1922), The Joyous Pilgrim (1923), Ashmorlands (1925), The Young Elizabeth: A Romantic Comedy (1928), Murder on the Underground (1929), and The Romance of a Very Young Man (1930). Presumably the second-to-last of these is a mystery?

BOILEAU, ETHEL [MAY] (1882 – 16 Jan 1942) 1920s – 1940s Author of twelve novels which appear widely varied in subject. Of her debut, The Box of Spikenard (1923), the Bookman rather impenetrably summed up: "Some husbands treat the precious ointment of a woman's love as if it were cold cream to be used after shaving." Hippy Buchan (1924) is about a man who is snubbed by a woman and then finds himself heir to a dukedom. Of Gay Family (1933), Kirkus said: "Contagious humor, originality in the telling of even the simplest events, mark this author as gifted beyond the ordinary run." The Map of Days (1935) is described as the story of "a modern Lancelot, a giant of a soldier, an ardent lover" and apparently covers the World War I period. Clansman (1936) is a Scottish family saga. Ballade in G Minor (1938) may be a sequel to Gay Family. Her other books, about which details are lacking, are The Arches of the Years (1930), Turnip-Tops (1932), The Fire of Spring, or, The Garden of Dreams (1933), When Yellow Leaves... (1934), The Fair Prince: The Story of the Forty-Five (1936), and Challenge to Destiny (1947).

BOLAND, BRIDGET (13 Mar 1913 – 19 Jan 1988) 1930s – 1970s Playwright, screenwriter, and author of three novels. Best known for her debut The Wild Geese (1938), a family saga set in 18th century Ireland, and for the plays Cockpit (1948) and The Prisoner (1954). Her other novels are Portrait of a Lady in Love (1942) and Caterina (1975). Among her screenwriting credits were Gaslight (1940), War and Peace (1956), and Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), for which she and collaborator John Hale won Oscars. In the 1970s, she published two books on gardening with her sister, Maureen Boland, and a memoir, At My Mother's Knee (1978).

BOLAND, JUNE (?1900 - ?2001) (?pseudonym of Eliza Maud Boland, née Cooksey [uncertain but probable identification]) 1920s – 1930s Author of about thirty romantic novels, many probably "dime novels." Titles include The Girl in Crimson (1920), The Girl from America (1922), The Master Wooer (1924), Kirsty at the Manse (1926), Hotel Splendide (1928), The Alabaster Nymph (1932), The Black Forest Inn (1936), and The Secret of Westmayne (1937). If our identification is correct, she may have been a schoolteacher.

BOLITHO, SYBIL (1892 - 1975) (née Matesdorf, other married names Temple, Ryall, Hofmann-Beer, and Fearnley, aka Sybil Ryall) 1920s – 1940s Author of at least five novels, including A Fiddle for Eighteenpence (1927), about two girls travelling in France, My Shadow as I Pass (1934), a tribute to her late husband William Bolitho, two novels in collaboration with a later husband (there were several of them!) Cecil Fearnley—Mrs. Rudd Writes Home (1936), set among theatrical people staying at a villa in Verona, and I Ask No Pardon (1938)—and one final novel in collaboration for John Lloyd Balderston, A Goddess to a God (1948).

BOLTON, IVY MAY (18 May 1879 – 9 May 1961) 1920s – 1950s Anglican nun, schoolteacher, and author of a dozen novels, most or all of them tales of historical adventure. Titles are The Young Knight (1923), The King's Minstrel: A Story of Norman England (1926), Shadow of the Crown: A Story of Malta (1931), A Loyal Foe: A Tale of the Rival Roses (1933), Rebels in Bondage (1938), Tennessee Outpost (1939), Luck of Scotland (1940), Raeburn Unafraid (1942), Son of the Land (1948), Wayfaring Lad (1949), Father Junipero Serra (1952), and Andrew of the Eagleheart (1952). Bolton was born in England but immigrated to the U.S. in her teens. She became a nun in 1911 and took the name Sister Mercedes.

BONAVIA-HUNT, DOROTHY [ALICE] (29 Apr 1880 – 21 Nov 1970) (name changed from Hunt) 1940s – 1950s Author of two novels written when she was around 70 years of age—a popular Jane Austen sequel, Pemberley Shades (1949), which has been noted on several blogs and which was reprinted in recent years by Sourcebooks, and a follow-up, The Relentless Tide (1951), which appears to have been published only in the U.S. Not to be confused with Dorothy A[lice]. HUNT, though their books have sometimes been misattributed—see here for details.

BOND, FREDA C[ONSTANCE]. (25 Mar 1894 - 1960) 1930s – 1950s Author of one novel for adults—The Philanthropists (1933), about which I've not found any information—and eight children's titles, including a trilogy about the Lancaster family—The End House (1943), The Lancasters at Lynford (1944), and Susan and Priscilla (1945)—discussed by Call Me Madam here, and four more that deal with the Carol family—The Holiday that Wasn’t (1947), The Week Before Christmas (1948), The Carols Explore (1949), and Squibs at School (1951). The final volumes of both series are set at school. Bond's final book, The Wishing Well Adventure (1952), is a standalone title.

BOND, NOREEN (1902 - 1981) (pseudonym of Nancy Helen Beckh) 1930s Author of two novels, Hide Away (1936) and Take Care (1938), but so far I can find no information about them.

BONE, FLORENCE E[MILY]. (26 Jan 1875 – 17 Feb 1971) 1900s – 1950s Author of around sixty volumes of fiction, including romantic and historical fiction as well as both girls' and boys' school stories characterized, according to Sims & Clare, by melodramatic but enjoyable plots). Titles include Ways of Marigold: A Story of the North Riding (1906), Alison's Quest, or, The Mysterious Treasure (1910), Margot's Secret (1910), The Wonderful Gate (1911), A Burden of Roses (1913), Curiosity Kate (1913), The Web on the Loom (1915), A Maid of Quality (1920), The Four Hearts of a Woman (1922), Cobblesett: Chronicles of Our Village (1926), Just like Fay (1928), A Flutter In Brocade (1929), Clacking Shuttles (1933), Galloping Days (1937), Crimson Sunrise (1942), Love Across the Cobbles (1951), and Invisible Walls (1955).

BONE, GERTRUDE [HELENA] (1876 – 25 Feb 1962) (née Dodd) 1900s – 1920s Poet, travel writer, and author of at least five volumes of fiction, including several illustrated by her husband Muirhead Bone. OCEF notes three novels, singling out Women of the Country (1913), about a middle-aged spinster who takes in a pregnant unwed girl, for "its decisive but unsensational focus on the experience of women." The others are Mr. Paul (1921) and This Old Man (1925). Provincial Tales (1904) is a story collection, but this leaves Children's Children (1907), which is also fiction, perhaps for children. The Cope (1930) seems to be a short religious story published in book form, while Came to Oxford (1953) appears to be a memoir.

BONHAM, ELIZABETH LYDIA ROSABELLE (1866 – 30 Oct 1945) (aka Mrs. Henry de la Pasture, later married name Clifford) 1890s – 1910s Mother of E. M. DELAFIELD and grandmother of Rosamund Dashwood. Playwright and author of 13 novels and 3 children's titles, most famously The Unlucky Family (1907), a humorous children's book about a family learning to live in an inherited country house. Her novels are often about young, inexperienced heroines, though The Grey Knight (1908) is "about a romance between two middle-aged people." Her other adult novels are Deborah of Tod’s (1897), Adam Grigson (1899), Catherine of Calais (1901), Cornelius (1903), The Man from America (1905), Peter’s Mother (1905), The Lonely Lady of Grosvenor Square (1907), Catherine's Child (1908), The Tyrant (1909), Master Christopher (1911), Erica (1912, aka The Honourable Mrs. Garry), and Michael Ferrys (1913).

BONHAM, MARGARET (1913 - 1991) (married names Griffith, Bazalgette, and Kimber) 1940s A distinctly un-prolific writer, Bonham published The Casino (1948), a story collection reprinted by Persephone, and a single novel, The House Across the River (1950). She continued to write short stories after that (though these remain uncollected) until her son's tragic death in 1972, after which she stopped writing.

BOOTH, AGNES [CLARA] (1888 - 1975) 1940s – 1960s Schoolteacher for at least a part of her life and author of several children's books, including one that is in part a school story—The Forest Mystery (1949). The others aree The Deerskin Island Mystery (1945), The Secret of the Harvest Camp (1948), Red Eagle (1950), and The Quest of the Stone (1963).

BOOTH, MARJORIE (1 Mar 1895 - 1969) (real name Marjory, married name Grey) 1920s – 1940s Author of at least 9 novels. Winterfield (1934) is described as a psychological study of jealousy, but I haven't found details of the others, which include A Gem of Earth (1929), Time to Stare (1930), Caps Over the Mill (1932), Overture to Fortune (1933), Portrait in Pastel (1935), Monday's a Long Day (1937), Thunder Hill (1938), and The Timeless Realm (1948). An additional title shown in the British Library catalogue, House Among Trees and No More Waiting (1944), may be two novellas or short novels published together?

BORER, MARY CATHCART (3 Feb 1906 - 1994) (married name Myers) 1930s – 1960s Historian and author of nearly two dozen works of children's fiction, which sometimes made use of her early involvement with ethnography and archaeology. The First Term at Northwood (1948) is her one girls' school story. Other titles include Kilango (1936), Taha, the Egyptian (1937), The Valley of the White Lake (1947), The Secret Tunnel (1950), Trapped by the Terror (1951), The Mystery of the Snakeskin Belt (1951), The Dog and the Diamonds (1956), and Sophie and the Countess (1960). She also published numerous works of history, including, of particular interest for this blog, Willingly to School: A History of Women's Education (1976).

BORROW, ENID S. (dates unknown) 1930s – 1940s Untraced author of nine novels, probably romantic in nature, including The Golden Chain (1930), The Faithful Heart (1932), For Herself Alone (1932), The Pointing Finger (1937), She Didn't Count (1938), The Newcomer (1939), The Girl She Cheated (1939), A Woman's Gamble (1941), and The Sunlit Path (1941).

BOSANQUET, MARY [DOROTHY] (11 Jun 1913 - 1999) (married name Darby) 1950s – 1960s Best known for two travel narratives—Saddlebags for Suitcases: Across Canada on Horseback (1942, later reprinted as Canada Ride), about her gruelling horseback ride from Vancouver to New York, and Journey Into a Picture (1947), about her time with the YMCA in Italy in the final year of World War II—Bosanquet also published a children's book, People with Six Legs (1953), and an adult novel, The Man on the Island (1962), about a lonely young woman finding new friendships while studying in the north of England.

BOSANQUET, THEODORA (3 Oct 1880 – 1 Jun 1961) 1910s Co-author of a single novel, The Spectators (1916), with Clara Smith, about which information is sparse. She also worked as secretary to Henry James for the last decade of his life, published two books of criticism, Harriet Martineau: An Essay in Comprehension (1927) and Paul Valery (1933), kept diaries, and practiced extensive automatic writing.

BOSTON, L[UCY]. M[ARIA]. (10 Dec 1892 – 25 May 1990) (née Wood) 1950s – 1970s Already in her sixties when she published her first novel, Yew Hall (1954), for adults, Boston quickly transitioned to children's fiction and penned the classic Green Knowe series, which deals with a manor house in which time travel is possible. That series, illustrated by Boston's son, includes The Children of Green Knowe (1954), The Chimneys of Green Knowe (1958, aka Treasure of Green Knowe), The River at Green Knowe (1959), A Stranger at Green Knowe (1961), An Enemy at Green Knowe (1964), and The Stones of Green Knowe (1976). She published several other children's titles, as well as one additional novel for adults, Persephone (1969, published in the US as Stronghold), and two memoirs, Memory in a House (1973) and Perverse and Foolish: A Memoir of Childhood and Youth (1979).

BOTIBOL, JENETTA (3 Sept 1909 - 1988) 1930s Author of four novels in the 1930s—Sun's Shadow (1934), These Our Dreams (1935), Bitter Seed (1936), and Before High Heaven (1937)—about which little information is available.

BOTTOME, PHYLLIS (31 May 1884 – 22 Aug 1963) (married name Forbes-Dennis) 1900s – 1960s Author of nearly 50 works of fiction, often focused on social or political issues. Among her best known works were Old Wine (1924), set in post-WWI Austria, Private Worlds (1934), a tale of mental illness made into a film starring Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer, The Mortal Storm (1937), which warned about the rise of the Nazis and was made into a Hollywood propaganda piece in 1940, and her "blitz lit" novels, London Pride (1941) and Without the Cup (1943, aka Survival). Bottome also focuses on the war in Mansion House of Liberty (1941, aka Formidable to Tyrants), described as "snapshots of England at war," and on the approach to war in The Life-Line (1946), set in Austria in 1938. Other fiction includes Life, the Interpreter (1902), The Dark Tower (1916, aka Secretly Armed), The Depths of Prosperity, written with American author Dorothy Thompson and set in the U.S., Level Crossing (1936), Man and Beast (1953), and Eldorado Jane (1956). She published three volumes of memoir, Search for a Soul: Fragment of an Autobiography (1947), The Challenge (1952), and The Goal (1962).

BOUMPHREY, ESTHER [MARY] (28 Aug 1896 – 24 May 1970) (née Grandage) 1920s – 1940s Sole author of three children's stories—The Hoojibahs (1929), The Hoojibahs and Mr. Robinson (1931), and Hoojibahs and Humans (1949)—as well as one collaboration with Barbara Euphan TODD, The House That Ran Behind (1943).

Bourne, Lesley           see MARSH, JEAN

BOWEN, ELIZABETH [DOROTHEA COLE] (7 Jun 1899 – 22 Feb 1973) (married name Cameron) 1920s – 1960s One of the most important of the authors whose work was formerly dismissed as "women's fiction." Author of ten novels, most famously The Death of the Heart (1938), about a young orphan living with her half-brother and his wife who don't really want her, and The Heat of the Day (1948), set in London during the Blitz and described by The Atlantic as "a Graham Greene thriller projected through the sensibility of Virginia Woolf." She is also well-known for her short stories, of which there are more than eighty, compiled in her Collected Stories (1980). Bowen's other novels were The Hotel (1927), The Last September (1929), Friends and Relations (1931), To the North (1932), The House in Paris (1935), A World of Love (1955), The Little Girls (1964), and Eva Trout (1968). She also published two memoirs, Seven Winters: Memories of a Dublin Childhood (1942) and Bowen's Court (1942) (recently reprinted in a single volume), a travel book, A Time in Rome (1960), and numerous essays, reviews, and critical writings. The House in Paris and The Death of the Heart were filmed for television in 1977, while The Heat of the Day became first a stage play (adapted by Harold Pinter, no less) in 1989 and and then a TV movie in 1991, and The Last September became a feature film in 1999.

BOWEN, MARJORIE (1 Nov 1886 – 23 Dec 1952) (pseudonym of Margaret Gabrielle Vere Campbell, married names Constanzo and Long, aka Joseph Shearing, aka George Preedy, aka John Winch, aka Robert Paye) 1900s – 1950s Author of more than 90 works of fiction, including tales of the supernatural, historical fiction as George Preedy, crime novels (many of them reconstructions of real-life cases) as Joseph Shearing, and children's fiction under the names John Winch and Robert Paye, as well as her own name, a memoir under her own name, Margaret Campbell, ironically titled The Debate Continues: Being the Autobiography of Marjorie Bowen (1939). Among her most successful works are The Viper of Milan (1906), Black Magic: a Tale of the Rise and Fall of the Antichrist (1909), A Knight of Spain (1913), Stinging Nettles (1923), General Crack (1928), made into a film with John Barrymore, her Renaissance trilogy, comprised of The Golden Roof (1928), The Triumphant Beast (1934), and Trumpets at Rome (1936), Forget-Me-Not (1932), The Last Bouquet (1933), and Airing in a Closed Carriage (1943).

BOWER, MARIAN (1865 – 5 Oct 1945) 1890s – 1930s Author of 16 novels, apparently social dramas with light intrigue elements. Title are Paynton Jacks, Gentleman (1893), Samson's Youngest (1895), The Story of Mollie (1897), The Guests of Mine Host (1899), The Puppet Show (1900), Marie-Eve (1903), The Wrestlers (1907), Skipper Anne: A Tale of Napoleon's Secret Service (1913), The Love Story of Guillaume-Marc (1917), The Chinese Puzzle (1919), Nick Nonpareil (1922), The Quince Bush (1927), Gotobedde Lane (1928), Glory Place (1930), Swans Battle (1933), and Sisters' Circus (1934).

BOWERS, DOROTHY (11 Jun 1902 – 29 Aug 1948) 1930s – 1940s Author of five acclaimed mysteries, who was inducted into the prestigious Detection Club shortly before her premature death from tuberculosis. Postscript to Poison (1938) takes place before World War II begins, and Shadows Before (1939) is set just as the war is looming, but Deed Without a Name (1940) already features the "Phony War" in full swing. In Bowers' most famous novel, Fear and Miss Betony (1941), named by James Sandoe as one of the best "Golden Age" mystery novels, the title character—a retired schoolmistress—is called to the aid of a former student to investigate suspicious doings at the school she runs, which has been evacuated to Dorset. Bowers fell silent for the rest of the war, and published only one more novel, The Bells of Old Bailey (1947). She was mentioned in 2010 by Christopher Fowler as one of his unjustly Forgotten Authors.

BOWHAY, BERTHA LOUISA (1873 – 4 Jun 1948) 1920s – 1930s Playwright and author of three novels—Elenchus Brown (1929), a utopian novel, the historical Caspar: A Medieval Romance (1930), and Guessing Deeper (1933), about which I could find no details.

BOX, MURIEL (22 Sept 1905 – 18 May 1991) (née Baker) 1950s – 1960s A successful writer of screenplays with her husband, Box also wrote two novels. Forbidden Cargo (1957)—credited to her husband as well as her, for marketing purposes, but in fact by Muriel alone—was a humorous thriller set at a fictional bird sanctuary. The Big Switch (1964), meanwhile, was a humorous science-fiction novel set in a post-nuclear world in which women hold the power. Earlier, as World War II approached, she and her husband, under the name Evelyn August, had published The Black-out Book: Being One-Hundred-and-One Black-out Nights' Entertainment (1939), which was very popular. Muriel also published Odd Woman Out: An Autobiography in 1974. She and her husband won Oscars for their work on The Seventh Veil (1945), a tremendously successful psychological drama starring James Mason and Ann Todd.

BOYD, LOUISA R[EID]. (7 Feb 1873 – 22 Jun 1948) 1910s – 1930s Author who lived in Scotland and published three books which seem to be novels—The Quest for Joy (1912), Comrades Here (1930), and An Idle Diary (1934). Little else is known except that a 1901 census shows she is one of eight adult children (ages 20s to 40s) all still living at home!

BOYD, MARY STUART (1860 - 1937) (née Kirkwood, aka Paxton Holgar) 1900s – 1910s Boyd started her brief writing career with two travel books—Our Stolen Summer: The Record of a Roundabout Tour (1900) and A Versailles Christmas-tide (1901)—followed by eight novels. Her first, With Clipped Wings (1902), is a village comedy, and Her Besetting Virtue (1908) and The Glen (1910), at least, appear to be romantic comedies. Backwaters (1906) is described by OCEF as "a loss-of-memory mystery set on the Thames," and The Mystery of the Castle (1911) presumably also has mystery or thriller elements. Her other novels are The Man in the Wood (1904), The Misses Make-Believe (1906), and The First Stone (1909). She published two more travel books, The Fortunate Isles: Life and Travel in Majorca, Minorca and Iviza (1911) and From the Shelf (1915), the latter using her Holgar pseudonym, and then seems to have stopped writing. Boyd's husband Alexander illustrated some of her books, and they later emigrated to New Zealand.

Boyd, Prudence           see BRADLEY, NORAH MARY

BOYLE, [CONSTANCE] NINA (ANTONINA) (21 Dec 1866 – 4 Mar 1943) 1920s – 1930s Militant suffragist, journalist, and author of a dozen mystery and adventure novels, often featuring strong female protagonists. Titles are Out of the Frying Pan (1920), What Became of Mr. Desmond (1922), Nor All Thy Tears (1923), Anna's (1925), The Stranger within the Gates (1926), Moteley's Concession (1926), The Rights of Mallaroche (1927), Treading on Eggs (1929), The Late Unlamented (1931), My Lady's Bath (1931), How Could They? (1932), and Good Old Potts! (1934). Boyle was imprisoned three times for her suffrage efforts with the Women's Freedom League, and was one of the first members of the Women Police Volunteers (WPV), which, according to her ODNB entry, had "the role of offering advice and support to women and children to help prevent sexual harassment and abuse."

BRABY, MAUD CHURTON (c1875 - 31 Dec 1932) 1910s Journalist and author of two novels—Downward: A 'Slice of Life' (1910), about an unmarried mother, and The Honey of Romance (1915)—and two early marriage manuals, Modern Marriage and How to Bear It (1909) and The Love-Seeker: A Guide to Marriage (1913).

BRADBY, VIOLET [ALICE] (c1872 – 21 May 1956) (née Milford, incorrectly listed in BL catalogue as “Violet Brady”) 1910s – 1930s Successful author of children's fiction whose work seems to make liberal use of fairies. Titles include Matthew and the Miller (1909), The Capel Cousins (1912), Judy and the Others (1916), Lodgings to Let (1918),         The Fairy Gifts (1919), The Crimson Ramblers (1921), Potter's Haven (1923), The Broken Lilies (1924), More Fairy Gifts (1926), The Four Little Brothers (1928), Meadowsweet Farm (1934), and One at Bedtime (1936).

BRADLEY, ANNE (dates unknown) 1950s Untraced author of four children's titles, including The Widening Path (1952), The Problem Patrol (1957), The Guides in Hanover Lane (1958), and Katherine at Feather Ghyll (1959). The last was reviewed here and recommended as a good housekeeping story.

BRADLEY, NORAH MARY (27 Dec 1897 – 25 Mar 1979) (married name Gibbs, aka Prudence Boyd, aka Lisette Garland, aka Sharon Heath, aka Noelle Ireland, aka Felicity Kerr, aka Lynne Merrill, aka Claire Ritchie, aka Nina Shayne, aka Heather Wayne, and Sara Whittingham) 1940s – 1970s Author of more than 60 romantic novels, at first mainly using the name Claire Ritchie, but branching into numerous other pen names by the late 1960s. Her many titles include The Sheltered Flame (1949), Love Builds a House (1950), Bright Meadows (1951), Lighted Windows (1952), Sun on the Sea (1954), The Gentle Wind (1954), Dreaming River (1957), The Sunflower's Look (1958), Hatful of Cowslips (1960), The Fair Adventure (1961), Ride on Singing (1964), To Greet the Morning (1966), Daffodil Journey (1966), Nurse at Moorcroft Manor (1967), Hope Is My Pillow (1967), Happiness Wears a Red Coat (1969), Nurse Elaine and the Sapphire Star (1973), Rainbow Romance (1974), Castle Perilous (1979), and Lodestone for Love (1980).

BRADLEY, NORMA (dates unknown) 1940s Untraced author of two girls' school stories—The New Girl at Greylands (1948) and Ghostly Guests at Greylands School (1949).

BRADSHAW, ANNIE (1859 – 23 May 1938) (née Cropper) 1880s – 1930s Author of around a dozen novels, many of which seem to be thrillers or melodramas (or perhaps both). Titles include  A Crimson Stain (1885), Wife or Slave? (1890), False Gods (1897), The Gates of Temptation (1898), Ashes Tell No Tales: A Dramatic Story (1906), The Rags of Morality (1911), Her Ordeal (1922), Chained to the Wheel (1934), For Love's Own Sake (1936), and Her Guardian Lover (1937). One of her final works, Murder at the Boarding House (1936), might be a more straightforward mystery. Tracking her novels is complicated by the fact that there were reprints during her lifetime, some possibly with alternate titles.

BRADSHAW, NINA (1893 - ????) (pseudonym of Marguerite Hills) 1930s – 1960s Author of nearly 30 romantic novels, including Wild Sanctuary (1933), The Beach of Lost Souls (1934), Knight in Armour (1935), Millionaire's Widow (1938), The Short Chain (1940), The Four Friends (1946), The Way of the Huntress (1948), The Artist's Daughters (1950), Girl of the Woods (1952), Stern Sentinel (1956), and Appointment with Romance (1960).

BRAHMS, CARYL (8 Dec 1901 – 5 Dec 1982) (pseudonym of Doris Caroline Abrahams) 1930s – 1970s Playwright, children's author, theatre critic, and novelist, best known for a series of humorous mysteries and novels co-authored with S. J. Simon. The mysteries include A Bullet in the Ballet (1937), Casino for Sale (1938, published in the US as Murder à la Stroganoff), Envoy on Excursion (1940), and Six Curtains for Stroganova (1945, published in the US as Six Curtains for Natasha). Their other collaborations are The Elephant Is White (1939), Don't, Mr Disraeli! (1940), No Bed for Bacon (1941), Titania Has a Mother (1944), No Nightingales (1944), Trottie True (1946), and You Were There (1950). Following Simon's sudden death, Brahms wrote songs for television, collaborated with Ned Sherrin on numerous plays and television screenplays, and wrote several more novels, some also with Sherrin. These include Away Went Polly (1952), Cindy-Ella, or, I Gotta Shoe (1962), No Castanets (1963), Rappel 1910 (1964), Benbow Was His Name (1967), and Enter a Dragon, Stage Centre (1979).

BRAMSTON, MARY [ELIZA] (1841 – 2 Feb 1912) 1860s – 1910s Half sister of Esme STUART. Author of more than 50 volumes of fiction for children and adults, as well as religious writings. She was also, according to Sims & Clare, the "first British writer to develop a series … about the same group of girls and women, which included a significant amount of school interest." That series includes The Snowball Society (1877), Home and School (1883), Rosamond Ferrars (1875), and Rosamond's Girls (1905). Her novels include Erick Thorburn (1869), Cecy's Recollections: A Story of Obscure Lives (1870), The Panelled House: A Chronicle of Two Sisters' Lives (1872), The Carbridges: A Suburban Story (1874), Em, or, Spells and Counter-Spells (1877), The Thorn Fortress: A Tale of the Thirty Years' War (1879), The Heroine of a Basket Van (1886), Apples of Sodom (1889), Abby's Discoveries (1891), Five Victims: A Schoolroom Story (1892), Punch, Judy, and Toby (1896), Miss Carr's Young Ladies (1897), The Villagers in Town (1900), The Fortunes of Junia (1906), The Failure of a Hero: A Tale of Shakesperian Days (1909), and Pastor Oberlin: A Family Chronicle of the Eighteenth Century (1912).

BRANCH, PAMELA [JEAN] (1920 – 25 Nov 1967) (née Byatt, other married names Faulker and Stuart-Lyon) 1950s Author of four widely-acclaimed humorous mysteries, which in their time drew comparisons to the Marx Brothers, Nancy SPAIN, and Evelyn Waugh. The Wooden Overcoat (1951) centers around murders at the Asterisk Club, a London association for "wrongfully acquitted murderers." The Lion in the Cellar (1951), which the Spectator called a "charnel-house frolic," is about a family descended from a long line of hideous murderers. Murder Every Monday (1954) again makes use of the members of the Asterisk Club, who have now started to teach courses on committing the perfect murder, only to find an unexpected one in their midts. And Murder's Little Sister (1958), named by Carolyn Hart as one of her five favorite mysteries of all time, is about the zany criminal goings-on at a popular magazine—including the attempted murder of a suicidal columnist. According to Rue Morgue Press, which reprinted all four of Branch's titles, a fifth novel, set in the Scottish Highlands, was in the works by 1962, but it never appeared and a few years later Branch died of cancer at the age of 47.

BRAND, CHRISTIANNA (17 Dec 1907 – 11 Mar 1988) (pseudonym of Mary Christianna Milne, married name Lewis, aka Mary Ann Ashe, aka Annabel Jones, aka Mary Roland, aka China Thomson) 1940s – 1970s Author of mysteries, romance, and children's fiction. Best known for her seven Inspector Cockrill mysteries—Heads You Lose (1941), Green for Danger (1944), set in a hospital during the Blitz, Suddenly at His Residence (1946, aka The Crooked Wreath), also making use of WWII, Death of Jezebel (1948), set in the immediate postwar period, London Particular (1952), Tour De Force (1955), and The Three Cornered Halo (1957), as well as a series of stories, The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries from Inspector Cockrill's Casebook (2002). She wrote two novels featuring Inspector Charlesworth—Death in High Heels (1941) and The Rose in Darkness (1979)—and two more featuring Inspector Chucky—Cat and Mouse (1950) and A Ring of Roses (1977, under her pseudonym Mary Ann Ashe). Her other novels include The Single Pilgrim (1946, writing as Mary Roland), Welcome to Danger (1949), Starrbelow (1958, writing as China Thompson), Dear Mr. MacDonald (1959), Heaven Knows Who (1960), Blood Brothers (1965), My Ladies' Tears (1965), Twist for Twist (1967), Court of Foxes (1969), Alas, for Her That Met Me! (1976, writing as Mary Ann Ashe), The Honey Harlot (1978), and The Brides of Aberdar (1982). For a change of pace, she also wrote the three children's books which form the basis of Emma Thompson's Nanny McPhee films—Nurse Matilda (1964), Nurse Matilda Goes to Town (1967), and Nurse Matilda Goes to Hospital (1975).

BRASH, MARGARET M[AUD]. (1880 – 17 Oct 1965) (aka John Kendall) 1920s – 1950s Author of nearly two dozen novels, at least some of which are historical adventures. Titles include Jannock (1928), The Rooftree Rides (1929), Over the Windmills (1932), Cresset Lights (1935), All Valiant Dust (1937), Singing Dust (1942), Vagabond Hope (1945), The Silver Ladder (1949), Proud Pageant (1953), and Ride Forth Singing (1958). Under her pseudonym, she published one science-fiction novel, Unborn Tomorrow (1933), set in 1995 and dealing with a U.K. beaten-down by Communist rule and on the brink of revolution.

Braybrooke, Frances           see WELLESLEY-SMITH, FRANCES

BRAZIL, ANGELA (30 Nov 1868 – 13 Mar 1947) 1900s – 1940s One of the most prolific and widely-known writers of girls' school stories (though not the inventor of the genre, as has been claimed), Brazil (pronounced Brazzle) is known for her flowery prose and her characters' frequent use of creative slang. She published 47 school stories in all, often dealing with schoolgirls solving mild mysteries. Titles include The Fortunes of Philippa (1906), A Fourth Form Friendship (1911), A Pair of Schoolgirls (1912), The Youngest Girl in the Fifth (1913), The Girls of St. Cyprian's (1914), For the Sake of the School (1915), The Head Girl of the Gables (1919), The Madcap of the School (1922), Captain Peggie (1924), The Little Green School (1931), The School at the Turrets (1935), An Exciting Term (1936), and The Secret of the Border Castle (1943). A few of her books, such as in The Luckiest Girl in the School (1916), A Patriotic Schoolgirl (1918), and For the School Colours (1918), include references to World War I, though they generally present war in the most idealized way, and during World War II, Brazil published The Mystery of the Moated Grange (1942) and The Secret of Border Castle (1943), both of which involve evacuated schools. In 1925, Brazil published her only memoir, My Own Schooldays.