By Diane Denton | On July 12, 2015 | Updated February 5, 2024 | Comments (6)
Mary Webb (March 25, 1881 – October 8, 1927), born Mary Gladys Meredith in Leighton near Shrewsbury, was an English novelist and poet best known for the novel Precious Bane. She had strong ties to the countryside and people of her native Shropshire.
As a girl, she wrote plays and stories to entertain her five younger sisters and brothers. She matured into an essayist, poet and novelist who drew on her pantheistic view of nature, fascination with folklore, innate sense of mysticism, consideration of the female experience, and empathy with the most vulnerable and stigmatized of earth’s creatures. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On July 10, 2015 | Updated November 1, 2025 | Comments (0)
Agatha Christie (September 15, 1890 – January 12, 1976), the renowned British author, borrowed from her observations of the world and people surrounding her to become the Queen of Mystery, and sometimes, the Queen of Crime.
Born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller in Torquay, U.K, a fashionable seaside resort, she was the youngest of three children. Her childhood was a conventional and happy one, according to her own accounts, and she was educated at home. (photo at right courtesy of Wikimedia commons)
Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), was written as a dare from her sister. Though it took a few years to go to press, Christie was the clear winner of the bet. This was the book that introduced the iconic detective character, Hercule Poirot. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On July 10, 2015 | Updated February 8, 2026 | Comments (0)
Emily Brontë (July 30, 1818 – December 19, 1848), British author known for Wuthering Heights, was the sister of Charlotte and Anne Brontë. She has also been recognized as a brilliant poet.
The fifth child born to Maria Branwell Brontë and Reverend Patrick Brontë, Emily Jane was, like her sisters, born in the West Yorkshire village of Thornton in England.
The family moved to the quiet Haworth setting where the sisters grew up, along with their brother Branwell. Their mother died while the children were still young. The two oldest sisters, Elizabeth and Maria, both died before adolescence.
Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On June 28, 2015 | Updated September 23, 2025 | Comments (0)
Elizabeth von Arnim (August 31, 1866 – February 9, 1941) was born Mary Annette Beauchamp in Sydney, Australia. This prolific writer was best known for The Enchanted April and Elizabeth and her German Garden, though the psychological thriller Vera is arguably her masterwork.
When she was young, her parents moved their family to London, and it was there and in Switzerland that she enjoyed a privileged upbringing and education. A rather shy child in the midst of a brood of siblings, she early on became an avid reader, and also showed precocious musical ability.
Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On April 15, 2015 | Updated September 21, 2022 | Comments (0)
Kate Douglas Wiggin (September 28, 1856 – August 24, 1923) was an American author best known for children’s stories, particularly Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
Wiggin was also active as an educator; aside from having founded the first kindergarten in San Francisco, she and her sister established a school for training kindergarten teachers.
Born in Philadelphia, she and her sister moved to Portland, Maine with their widowed mother. Her education was sporadic and didn’t include college, though this wasn’t unusual for girls in her era. Her mother’s second husband had a health condition that took the family to the warmer climate of the west coast, and she found her milieu in California.
Read More→
Categories: 
Comments: