Louisa Emily Dobrée (c. 1852 – 1917) was a 19th-century-born French-Irish Catholic writer of novels, fugitive articles, short stories, and juvenile literature. Her non-fiction subjects ranged from home nursing, domestic and personal hygiene, etiquette, character sketches, and embroidery, to natural history.

Biography

Louisa Emily Dobrée was born in

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

, France, c. 1852. She was of Irish descent on her mother's side, while her father's family, of

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

, was originally French. Dobrée's first story was published when she was nineteen. This was followed by fugitive articles and short stories in magazines. She also wrote books for young people, among which are the following:— ''Loved into Shape'', ''Dreams and Deeds'', ''Terry'', ''One Talent Only'', ''A Knotless Thread'', ''Underneath the Surface'', ''A Lowly Life with a Lofty Aim'', and ''Turned to Gold'', as well as ''Hugh Templar's motto'', ''Underneath the Surface. A Sark Story'', ''Leon and the Lessons He Learned. A Jersey Story'', and ''Only Johnny Brown''. These were published at intervals of sometimes great length. In 1887, Dobrée was received into the Catholic Church, and her books thereafter included:— ''A Manual of Home Nursing'', ''Stories on the Sacraments'', ''A Seven-Fold Treasure'', ''Per Parcel Post'', ''A Tug-of War'', ''Stories on the Beatitudes'', ''Beautiful Sewing'', and ''Plain Work'', among others. She was on the staff and an occasional contributor to twenty magazines, the subjects on which she wrote upon including home nursing, domestic and personal hygiene, etiquette, character sketches, embroidery, plain work, and natural history. Dobrée lived a great deal in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

, France, and Ireland, besides having paid visits, long and short, to Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, and Germany. She later lived at

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

, near

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 ...

. The scenes of her stories were always set in Europe.

Selected works

* ''Loved into shape; or, The story of Bob Sanders'', 1877 * ''Dreams and Deeds'', 1877 * ''One Talent Only'', 1878 * ''Hugh Templar's motto'', 1879 * ''"Not useless"'', 1879 * ''A Knotless Thread'', 1879 * ''Underneath the Surface. A Sark Story'', 1881 * ''Turned to Gold'', 1881 * ''A Lowly Life with a Lofty Aim'', 1881 * ''A life lesson'', 1884 * ''Only Johnny Brown'', 1886 * ''Leon and the Lessons He Learned. A Jersey Story'', 1886 * ''Kit and His Violin'', 1888 * ''A Manual of Home Nursing'', 1889 * ''Little King I.A Story for the Young ... With Illustrations, Etc'', 1890 * ''Loved Into Shape ; Or, the Story of Bob Sanders.'', 1891 * ''A Christmas lesson'', 1891 * ''A lowly life with a lofty aim'', 1891 * ''A Tug-of War'', 1891 * ''A sevenfold treasure : stories on the gifts of the Holy Spirit'', 1892 * ''Winifred's work'', 1892 * ''Per Parcel Post'', 1892 * ''Stories on the Beatitudes'', 1894 * ''A workhouse concert'', 1894 * ''Coals of fire'', 1894 * ''Uncle Luke's legacy'', 1894 * ''Dick's desire'', 1894 * ''Stories on the Rosary. Part I'', 1897 * ''Stories on the Rosary. Part 2'', 1898 * ''Sylvia's Lesson: Extreme Unction'', 19?? * ''The Two Wishes: A Story of Holy Orders'', 19?? * ''Brian Daly: A Story of Holy Communion'', 19?? * ''You Did it Unto Me: Stories on the Corporal Works of Mercy'', 1903 * ''Stories on the Rosary. Part 3, The glorious mysteries'', 1904 * ''Among the saucepans'', 1915 * ''Ever a fighter'', 1915 * ''Driving a bargain'', 1915 * ''Father Carlton's offerings'', 1915 * ''Don Filippo's dream'', 1915 * ''Stories from Italy'', 1915 * ''The Kingdoms of the World'', 1917 * ''Terry'' * ''Stories on the Sacraments'' * ''Beautiful Sewing'' * ''Plain Work''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobree, Louisa Emily Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists 19th-century Irish novelists 20th-century Irish novelists 19th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French non-fiction writers 19th-century Irish non-fiction writers 20th-century Irish non-fiction writers 19th-century French short story writers 20th-century French short story writers 19th-century Irish short story writers 20th-century Irish short story writers 19th-century French women writers 20th-century French women writers 19th-century Irish women writers 20th-century Irish women writers Writers from Tours, France French Roman Catholic writers French children's writers Irish children's writers French women novelists French women short story writers French women children's writers Irish women novelists Irish women short story writers Irish women children's writers French religious writers 1852 births 1917 deaths