Alice Louisa Dudeney (née Whiffin; 21 October 1866 – 21 November 1945) was an English author and short story writer. The wife of

Henry Dudeney Henry Ernest Dudeney (10 April 1857 – 23 April 1930) was an English author and mathematician who specialised in logic puzzles and mathematical games. He is known as one of the country's foremost creators of mathematical puzzles. Early life ...

, a fellow author and inventor of

mathematical puzzle Mathematical puzzles make up an integral part of recreational mathematics. They have specific rules, but they do not usually involve competition between two or more players. Instead, to solve such a puzzle, the solver must find a solution that sati ...

s and

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

, she used the style Mrs. Henry Dudeney for much of her literary career. She herself became a popular writer in her lifetime, who was often compared to

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

for her portrayals of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

regional life.Barrow, Elizabeth N., ed. ''The Fortune of War: Being Portions of Many Letters and Journals Written to and for her Cousin Mistress Dorothea Engel of Carthmoor Hall,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, England''. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1900.Cardinal, Agnès, Dorothy Goldman and Judith Hattaway. ''Women's Writing on the First World War''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. (pg. 290) She had over fifty volumes of fiction published between 1898 and 1937.

Fiction

Called "one of the most powerful writers of fiction among modern English women" by ''

Putnam's Magazine ''Putnam's Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science and Art'' was a monthly periodical published by G. P. Putnam's Sons featuring American literature and articles on science, art, and politics. Series The magazine had three incarnations ...

'',"The Lounger." ''Putnam's Magazine''. Vol. VII (October 1909 – April 1910): 755 ff. she is noted for her novels ''A Man with a Maid'' (1897), ''Folly Corner'' (1899), ''Maternity of Harriott Wicken'' (1899),Lummis, Charles F., ed. "That Which Is Written", ''The Land of Sunshine'', Vol. XI (June–November 1899): 238 ff. and ''Spindle and Plough'' (1901) and was a regular contributor to ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

''. In 1928, Arthur St. John Adcock wrote, "No woman novelist today writes more objectively or with a stronger imaginative realism in the creation of character and the designing of a story." Dudeney was best known for her dramatic and

romance fiction A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimis ...

, though her books frequently touched upon social issues affecting the English working and lower middle classes. She was often touted by her publishers as "the novelist of the

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

and the Marsh and the Down Countries". She is also considered an early Victorian feminist writer, whose popular "marriage-problem" novels, along with those of her contemporary, M. P. Willcocks, showed female characters who were often frustrated with problems in their own marriages.

Diary

In 1998, author Diana Crook edited and published Dudeney's personal diaries, entitling them ''A Lewes Diary: 1916–1944''. These describe her life in Lewes with Henry Dudeney before and during the

interwar years In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

. The book's success brought renewed interest in her work and resulted in several of her novels being reprinted in 2008 and 2009.

Biography

Alice Dudeney was born to Frederick Whiffin, a master tailor, and his wife Susan Howe in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

on 21 October 1866. She was educated in

Hurstpierpoint Hurstpierpoint is a village in West Sussex, England, southwest of Burgess Hill, and west of Hassocks railway station. It sits in the civil parish of Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common which has an area of 2029.88 ha and a population of ...

,Addison, Henry R., Charles H. Oakes, William J. Lawson, and Douglas Sladen, eds. "Dudeney, Mrs. Henry." Who's Who, 1906. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1906: 504+. a region of

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

which she would use as a setting for her later novels, and later introduced to 25-year-old

through a mutual friend. The two were married at St. Andrew Church,

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 3 November 1884.Sutherland, John. ''The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1990, pp. 200–201. The couple rented a house in Great James Street, Bedford Row, close to the

printing house In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. Printers can include: *Newspaper printers, often owned by newspaper publishers *Magazine printers, usually independe ...

s. Dudeney, then an aspiring writer, wrote a few short stories intended for publication, but much of her time was taken up as a housewife and expectant mother. Their first child, Phyllis Mary, was born in May 1887, but died aged four months.Guy, Richard K. and Robert E. Woodrow, eds, ''The Lighter Side of Mathematics: Proceedings of the Eugène Strens Memorial Conference on Recreational Mathematics and Its History''. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America, 1994, pp. 297 and 299–300. Distraught over the loss of their baby, Dudeney stopped writing for a time and took a job as assistant secretary to the head of the Cassells publishing firm,

Sir Wemyss Reid Sir Thomas Wemyss Reid (29 March 1842 – 26 February 1905) was an English newspaper editor, novelist and biographer. Early life Reid was born at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1842, the son of a Congregational minister Career He became chief reporte ...

. The literary atmosphere of Cassells eventually prompted her to return to writing and would later launch her career as a novelist, by way of three short stories that appeared in Cassell journals. Her connections with Cassells also gave Henry another outlet for his work. The couple's second child, Margery Janet, was born in 1890. They decided to move away from London to a rented cottage near the Surrey/Sussex border, in a small hamlet north of

Billingshurst Billingshurst is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. The village lies on the A29 road (the Roman Stane Street) at its crossroads with the A272, south-west of Horsham and north-east of Pulborough. Th ...

. There they found themselves preferring life in the countryside. After some years they were able to purchase a three-acre plot of land on the outskirts of

Horsell Horsell is a village in the borough of Woking in Surrey, England, less than a mile north-west of Woking town centre. In November 2012, its population was 9,384. Horsell is integral to H. G. Wells' classic science fiction novel ''The War of the Wor ...

. With the help of Henry's brother-in-law, Maurice Pocock, then living with his wife, Kate Dudeney, in nearby

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in the ...

, they planned the construction of a

country estate An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which would historically generate income for its owner. British context In the UK, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, and woods that s ...

named Littlewick Meadow in 1897. The house was so large that they hired several servants to help them run it. Having a common interest in

antique furniture A piece of antique furniture is a collectible interior furnishing of considerable age. Often the age, rarity, condition, utility, or other unique features make a piece of furniture desirable as a collectors' item, and thus termed an antique ...

, they also attended sales in the local area and furnished their home with a unique collection of Jacobean and later period antiques. Much of Dudeney's personal life could be described as very domestic. In a

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

interview, her hobbies were listed as "gardening and collecting old oak furniture". She was also involved in the restoration of nearby historic homes that had fallen into disrepair. In 1897, Dudeney published her first novel, ''A Man with a Maid''. Much of her early work was dramatic fiction dealing with then controversial moral topics, such as illegitimate pregnancy) and domestic life among the working and lower middle classes. ''Folly Corner'' (1899) tells of a young woman who moves from London to live on an ancestral Sussex farm and becomes involved in a

bigamous In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

relationship. ''Maternity of Harriott Wicken'' (1899) is a murder story that ends with the death of a mother and her child from

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

. ''Men of Marlowe's'' (1900) is a collection of

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

short stories set in Gray's Inn, London. ''The Third Floor'' (1901) follows another young girl living alone in London, who becomes a victim of sexual abuse. As Dudeney's success as a writer grew, the money from her writing provided much of the family income. By the turn of the 20th century, her popularity had gained her and Henry entry into both literary and court circles. In 1912, her literary work was profiled by

Frederic Taber Cooper Frederic Taber Cooper Ph.D. (May 27, 1864 – May 20, 1937) was an American editor and writer. Life Cooper was born in New York City, graduated from Harvard University in 1886 and obtained an LL.B. from Columbia University in 1887."Frederi ...

in ''Some English Story Tellers: A Book of the Younger Novelists''. She was a regular guest of

Sir Philip Sassoon Sir Philip Albert Gustave David Sassoon, 3rd Baronet, (4 December 1888 – 3 June 1939) was a British politician, art collector, and socialite, entertaining many celebrity guests at his homes, Port Lympne Mansion, Kent, and Trent Park, North Lond ...

and his sister

Sybil Sibyls were oracular women believed to possess prophetic powers in ancient Greece. Sybil or Sibyl may also refer to: Films * ''Sybil'' (1921 film) * ''Sybil'' (1976 film), a film starring Sally Field * ''Sybil'' (2007 film), a remake of the 19 ...

at their home in Port Lympne. Her novel ''Head of the Family'' (1917) was dedicated to Philip at his request, and she often received personal presents from him. She later donated a series of letters from Philip to her, to

Cecil Roth Cecil Roth (5 March 1899 – 21 June 1970) was a British Jewish historian. He was editor in chief of ''Encyclopaedia Judaica''. Life Roth was born in Dalston, London, on 5 March 1899. His parents were Etty and Joseph Roth, and Cecil was the youn ...

for his book ''The Sassoon Dynasty''. Marital troubles, including an affair with the artist

Paul Hardy Paul Jude Hardy (born October 18, 1942) is an American attorney from Baton Rouge, in the U.S. state of Louisiana, who was the first Republican to have been elected lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He ser ...

, caused Alice to separate from Henry, which prompted the sale of Littlewick. They were eventually reconciled after their daughter Margery Janet's marriage and emigration to Canada, and moved to Castle Precincts House,

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

in 1916. However, between 1911 and 1916, she resided at The Pigeon House in the High Street,

Angmering Angmering is a village and civil parish between Littlehampton and Worthing in West Sussex on the southern edge of the South Downs National Park, England; about two-thirds of the parish (mostly north of the A27 road) fall within the Park. It is ...

. In 1920, Alice Dudeney was given an honourable mention, along with a number of other non-American authors, who were excluded by American Society of Arts and Sciences from receiving the ''O. Henry Memorial Award''. Her 1929 novel ''The Peep Show'' was adapted into a

Broadway show Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

by playwright

Elsie Schauffler Elsie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Elsie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lily Elsie (1886–1952), English actress and singer born Elsie Hodder * Robert Elsie (1950–2017), Canadian expert in Albania ...

. After Henry's death in 1930, Dudeney remained in Lewes and continued writing up until 1937. She died on 21 November 1945, after suffering a stroke, and was buried alongside her husband in Lewes town cemetery. Their grave is marked by a copy of an 18th-century Sussex sandstone obelisk, which Alice had copied after Henry's death to serve as a memorial to them both. Over 50 years after her death, Alice's personal diaries were edited by Diana Crook and published in 1998. The book, entitled ''A Lewes Diary: 1916–1944'', describes her sometimes troubled married life with Henry Dudeney during their 30-year residence in Lewes. Several anecdotes were used in later books of wartime diaries.Taylor, Irene and Alan, ed., ''The War Diaries: An Anthology of Daily Wartime Diary Entries Throughout History''. Edinburgh: Canongate, 2005. (pg. 532) The success of this book resulted in several of her stories being reprinted, including ''Spindle and Plough'', ''Men of Marlowe's'' and ''Robin Brilliant'' in 2008 and ''The Maternity of Harriott Wicken'', ''Rachel Lorian'', ''The Story of Susan'', ''Trespass'', ''A Large Room'', ''The Battle of the Weak, Or, Gossips Green'' and ''Folly Corner'' in 2009.

Bibliography

*''A Man with a Maid'' (1897) *''Hagar of Homerton'' (1898) *''The Maternity of Harriott Wicken'' (1899) *''Folly Corner'' (1899) *''Men of Marlowe's'' (1900) *''Spindle and Plough'' (1901) *''The Third Floor'' (1901) *''Robin Brilliant'' (1902) *''The Story of Susan'' (1903) *''The Wise Woods'' (1905) *''A Country Bunch'' (1905) *''The Battle of the Weak, or, Gossips Green'' (1906) *''The Orchard Thief'' (1907) *''Rachel Lorian'' (1908) *''Trespass'' (1909) *''A Sense of Scarlet and Other Stories'' (1909) *''The Shoulder-Knot'' (1909) *''A Large Room'' (1910) *''Married When Suited'' (1911) *''Maid's Money'' (1911) *''A Runaway Ring'' (1913) *''Set To Partners: A Novel'' (1914) *''The Secret Son'' (1915) *''This Way Out'' (1917) *''The Head of the Family'' (1917) *''Thumb Nails'' (1918) *''Candlelight'' (1918) *''What a Woman Wants'' (1914) *''The Next Move'' (1924) *''The Play Box'' (1924) *''Quince Alley'' (1925) *''Seed Pods'' (1927) *''Brighton Beach'' (1928) *''Puff Paste'' (1928) *''By Consent'' (1929) *''The Peep Show'' (1929) *''Traveller's Rest'' (1930) *''The House in the High Street'' (1931) *''The Treasure Field'' (1932) *''Puzzles and curious problems'' (1932, co-authored with Henry Dudeney) *''Trundle Square'' (1933) *''Portrait of Ellen'' (1934) *''Put Up The Shutters'' (1935) *''Barbourbrook'' (1935) *''Petty Cash'' (1937) *''A Lewes Diary, 1916–1944'' (1998, published posthumously)

Fiction

Diary

Biography

Bibliography

References

Further reading