Elisabeth Kyle, pseudonym of Agnes Mary Robertson Dunlop, (born 1 January 1901, died 23 February 1982), was a Scottish writer of novels, children's books and travel literature.
She used the pen name Jan Ralston for publication of one of her books in the United States.
Biography
Agnes Mary Robertson Dunlop was born in
Ayr
Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...
, Scotland on 1 January 1901. Her mother was Elizabeth Riddell Dunlop and her father was James Dunlop, a lawyer in the family firm. He was keen on literature, introducing his daughter to the classics and monitoring the books to which she was exposed. He died when she was nine years old but had a lasting influence on her life.
As a child she had no particular intention of becoming an author, and when she finished her education became a journalist, first with the ''
Manchester Guardian'' and then with the ''
Glasgow Herald
''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...
''. Her journalism includes articles about other Scottish women writers such as
Mary Cleland and
Nan Shepherd
Anna "Nan" Shepherd (11 February 1893 – 27 February 1981) was a Scottish Modernist writer and poet, best known for her seminal mountain memoir, ''The Living Mountain'', based on experiences of hill walking in the Cairngorms. This is noted as a ...
.
Kyle's earliest published works were stories in children's annuals.
A large part of her output was books for children, published between the 1930s and 1980.
[ Many of these were historical novels designed for a young audience, with heroines such as ]Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature.
She enlisted i ...
, Mary II of England, Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...
and Clara Schumann
Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...
.[ She wrote several novels for adult, including ''The Begonia Bed'' (1934), ''The Pleasure Dome'' (1943), ''The Tontine Belle'' (1951), and ''The Other Miss Evans'' (1958).]BBC Light Programme
The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...
as Book at Bedtime
''Book at Bedtime'' (''A Book at Bedtime'' until 9 July 1993) is a long-running radio programme that is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 each weekday evening between 22.45 and 23.00.
The programme presents readings of fiction, including modern classics, ...
in 1995.Josephine Tey
Josephine Tey was a pseudonym used by Elizabeth MacKintosh (25 July 1896 – 13 February 1952), a Scottish author. Her novel '' The Daughter of Time'' was a detective work investigating the role of Richard III of England in the death of the Pr ...
and corresponded with her.
Bibliography
* ''The Begonia Bed'' (1934): Constable & Co. (romance novel
A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pr ...
)
* ''Orangefield'' (1938): Constable (novel for adults)
* ''The Mirrors of Versailles'' (1939): Constable (travel)
* ''Broken Glass'' (1940): Peter Davies Ltd.
* ''Visitors from England'' (1941), illustrated by A. Mason Trotter: Peter Davies Ltd. (children's book)Nora Fry Lavrin
Nora Lavrin, ''née'' Fry (1897 – 30 August 1985), was an English engraver, book illustrator and painter. She illustrated twenty editions of children's books.
Early life
Nora Fry was born in Liverpool, the daughter of Canadian-born Amb ...
: Peter Davies 957 edition illustrated by Leslie Atkinson and published by Thomas Nelson(children's book)
* ''The Skaters' Waltz'' (1944): Peter Davies Ltd.
* ''Holly Hotel'' (1945), illustrated by Nora Fry Lavrin: Peter Davies Ltd.
* ''Carp Country'' (1946): Peter Davies Ltd. (novel for adults set in Southern Bohemia
The South Bohemian Region ( cs, Jihočeský kraj; , ) is an administrative unit (''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western part ...
)Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...
'' (1957), illustrated by Robert Hodgson: Thomas Nelson
* ''Queen of Scots. The story of Mary Stuart'' (1957), illustrated by Robert Hodgson: Thomas Nelson
* ''The Other Miss Evans'' (1958): Peter Davies Ltd.
* ''The Money Cat'' (1958), illustrated by Cecil Leslie: Hamish Hamilton (children's book)
* ''Oh say, can you see'' (1959): Peter Davies Ltd. (travel)
* ''Eagles' Nest'' (1961), illustrated by Juliete Palmer: Nelson
* ''Girl with a Lantern'' (1961), illustrated by Douglas Relf
Douglas Rupert Relf (November 1907 - April 1970) was a British artist who became well known for his work for the British Railways Western Region, and for his illustrations and dust jackets for many children's books from multiple publishers in the ...
: Nelson
* ''Girl with an Easel'' (1962), illustrated by Charles Mozley
Charles Alfred Mozley (29 May 1914 – 11 January 1991) was a British artist who was also a teacher. He was a prolific book illustrator and designer of book covers, posters and prints.
Biography
Mozley was born in Darnall, Sheffield, and, ...
: Evans Bros (biography of Vigee Le Brun)
* ''Return to the Alcazar'' (1962): Peter Davies Ltd. (romance novel)
* ''Girl with a Pen. The story of Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature.
She enlisted i ...
'' (1963), illustrated by Charles Mozley: Evans Bros
* ''Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
; the story of a great queen'' (1964), illustrated by Annette MacArthur-Onslow: Thomas Nelson
* ''Girl with a Song; the story of Jenny Lind'' (1964), illustrated by Charles Mozley: Evans Bros
* ''Girl with a Destiny : the story of Mary of Orange'' (1965), illustrations by Charles Mozley: Evans Bros
* ''The Boy who Asked for More: the early life of Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
'' (1966): Evans Bros
* ''Love is for the Living'' (1966): Peter Davies Ltd.
* ''Duet: the story of Clara
Clara may refer to:
Organizations
* CLARA, Latin American academic computer network organization
* Clara.Net, a European ISP
* Consolidated Land and Rail Australia, a property development consortium
People
* Clara (given name), a feminine gi ...
and Robert Schumann'' (1968): Evans Bros
* ''Queen's Evidence'' (1969): Peter Davies Ltd.
* ''Song of the Waterfall: the story of Edvard
Edvard is a form of Edward and may refer to:
* Edvard Askeland (born 1954), Norwegian jazz musician
* Edvard Befring (born 1936), Norwegian educationalist
* Edvard Beneš (1884–1948), Czech politician
* Edvard Christian Danielsen (1888–1964), ...
and Nina Grieg
Nina Grieg, née Hagerup (24 November 1845 – 9 December 1935) was a Danish–Norwegian lyric soprano.
Early life and family
Nina Hagerup was born in Bergen, Norway. She was the first cousin of composer Edvard Grieg, whom she married.
Car ...
'' (1970): Evans Bros
* ''Mirror Dance'' (1970): Peter Davies Ltd. (novel for adults)
* ''The Scent of Danger'' (1971): Peter Davies Ltd.
* ''The Stilt Walkers'' (1972): Heinemann
* ''The Silver Pineapple'' (1972): Peter Davies Ltd.
* ''Through the Wall'' (1973), illustrated by Philip Moon: Heinemann
* ''The Heron Tree'' (1973): Peter Davies Ltd.
* ''High Season'' (1974): Peter Davies Ltd.
* ''Free as Air'' (1974): Peter Davies Ltd.
* ''Down the Water'' (1975) (novel for adults)
* ''The Key of the Castle'' (1976), illustrated by Joanna Troughton: Heinemann (children's historical novel)
* ''The Yellow Coach'' (1976), illustrated by Alexy Pendle: Heinemann (children's historical novel set in France)
* ''All the Nice Girls'' 1976 Magna Print (novel for adults)
* ''The Burning Hill'' (1977): Magna Print (novel for adults)
* ''The Stark Inheritance'' (1978): Peter Davies Ltd.
* ''A Summer Scandal'' 1979 Magna Print (novel for adults)
* ''The Deed Box'' (1981): Hale
Hale may refer to:
Places Australia
*Hale, Northern Territory, a locality
*Hale River, in southeastern Northern Territory
Canada
*Hale, Ontario, in Algoma District United Kingdom
* Hale, Cumbria, a hamlet near Beetham, Cumbria
*Hale, Greater Man ...
* ''Bridge of the Blind Man'' (1983): Hale
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyle, Elisabeth
1901 births
1982 deaths
20th-century Scottish novelists
20th-century Scottish women writers
Scottish women novelists
British women children's writers