May Edginton (originally Helen Marion Edginton, 20 December 1883 – 17 June 1957)IMDb
/ref> was an English writer who had over 50 popular novels published in London. She also wrote plays, collaborating with

Rudolf Besier Rudolf Wilhelm Besier (2 July 1878 – 16 June 1942) was a Dutch/English dramatist and translator best known for his play ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' (1930). He worked with H. G. Wells, Hugh Walpole and May Edginton on dramatisations. Ear ...

on two of them.Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy: ''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present Day'' (London: Batsford, 1990), p. 329. Some of her fiction works were filmed. Her work was translated into several languages, including Hungarian and Chinese.OCLC Worldcat Identitie
Retrieved 4 May 2018.
/ref>

Biography

Edginton was born on 20 December 1883 in England. She wrote for ''

The Royal Magazine ''The Royal Magazine'' was a monthly British literary magazine that was published between 1898 and 1939. Its founder and publisher was Sir Arthur Pearson. ''The Royal Magazines first edition was published in November 1898. According to this issu ...

'', where she met the editorial staff and also novelist Francis Evans Bailey (died 1962), whom she married in 1912.Oxford Referenc
Retrieved 4 May 2018.
/ref> They had one son, and separated in 1930. She died at 73 in

Rondebosch Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with shopping and business districts as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town. History Four years after the first Dutch s ...

, South Africa, on 17 June 1957.

Fiction, plays and films

Edginton started to write novels in 1908. Many explore domestic predicaments. ''The Sin of Eve'' (1913) features a working woman, who leaves the suffragette cause to get married. Others of the novels examine escapes or solutions for heroines in domestic predicaments. ''Married Life, or The True Romance'' (1917), for example, shows the disintegrating relations between newly-weds living on a small income. The wife depends wholly on the husband for money and is tied to the home by the arrival of their three children, so losing all power and independence. However, she manages to reverse the situation while her husband is away on a business trip. ''Woman of the Family'' (1936) has the "household drudge" Eve advance from a secretarial job to being a dance-club hostess, yet in marriage still having "no right to her own money". She escapes with one of the club's wealthy clients. Some of Edginton's fiction has been filmed – the story "World Without End" as '' His Supreme Moment'' (1925), starring

Blanche Sweet Sarah Blanche Sweet (June 18, 1896 – September 6, 1986) was an American silent film actress who began her career in the earliest days of the Hollywood motion picture film industry. Early life Born Sarah Blanche Sweet (though her first na ...

, the novel ''Purple and Fine Linen'' as '' Three Hours'' (1927) starring

Corinne Griffith Corinne Griffith (née Griffin; November 21, 1894 – July 13, 1979) was an American film actress, producer, author and businesswoman. Dubbed "The Orchid Lady of the Screen," she was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful actresses of the ...

and later as '' Adventure in Manhattan'' (1936) starring

Jean Arthur Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s. Arthur had feature roles in three F ...

, and ''The Joy Girl'', adapted as such (1927), starring

Olive Borden Olive Mary Borden (July 14, 1906 – October 1, 1947) was an American film and stage actress who began her career during the silent film era. She was nicknamed "the Joy Girl", after playing the lead in the 1927 film of that same title. Borden ...

. Her two plays, co-written with Rudolf Besier, were ''

Secrets Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

'' (1922) and ''The Prude's Fall'' (1920). Both were later filmed, the first of them twice: ''

'' (1924) with

Norma Talmadge Norma Marie Talmadge (May 2, 1894 – December 24, 1957) was an American actress and film producer of the silent era. A major box-office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among the most pop ...

and ''

'' (1933) with

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

. ''The Prude's Fall'' appeared as '' Dangerous Virtue'' (1924), directed by

Graham Cutts John Henry Graham Cutts (1884 – 7 February 1958), known as Graham Cutts, was a British film director, one of the leading British directors in the 1920s. His fellow director A. V. Bramble believed that Gainsborough Pictures had been built o ...

, art direction by

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

, starring

Jane Novak Jane Novak (born Johana Barbara Novak; January 12, 1896 – February 3, 1990) was an American actress of the silent film era. Background Jane Novak was born Johana Barbara Novak in St. Louis, Missouri to Bohemian immigrant Joseph Jerome Novak a ...

and

Julanne Johnston Julanne Johnston (May 1, 1900 – December 26, 1988) was an American silent film actress. Biography Johnston was born and educated in Indianapolis, Indiana, then her family moved to Hollywood. There she took dancing lessons at the Denishawn S ...

. Edginton's final novel was ''Two Lost Sheep'' (1955).

Filmography

* ''The Double Cross'' (1912) * ''The Love Auction'' (1919) * ''

Lying Lips ''Lying Lips'' is a 1939 American melodrama race film written and directed by Oscar Micheaux who co-produced the film with aviator Hubert Fauntlenroy Julian, starring Edna Mae Harris, and Robert Earl Jones (the father of James Earl Jones). ''Lyi ...

'' (1921) * ''

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

'' (1922) * ''

'' (1924) * ''

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

'' (1924) * ''

Her Husband's Secret ''Her Husband's Secret'' is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Antonio Moreno, Patsy Ruth Miller, and Ruth Clifford Ruth Clifford (February 17, 1900 – November 30, 1998) was an American actress of lea ...

'' (1924) * '' His Supreme Moment'' (1925) * ''

The Prude's Fall ''The Prude's Fall'' is a 1925 British silent drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Jane Novak, Julanne Johnston and Warwick Ward. The film was shot at Islington Studios, produced by a company that would soon develop into Gainsbo ...

'' (1925) * '' Three Hours'' (1927) * ''The Woman Who Squandered Men'' (1927) * ''

The Joy Girl ''The Joy Girl'' is a 1927 American two-strip Technicolor silent comedy film directed by Allan Dwan, released by Fox Film Corporation, starring Olive Borden, Neil Hamilton, and Marie Dressler, and based on the short story of the same name by ...

'' (1927) * ''

The False Madonna ''The False Madonna'' is a 1931 American drama film directed by Stuart Walker, and written by May Edginton, Ray Harris, and Arthur Kober. The film stars Kay Francis, William "Stage" Boyd, Conway Tearle, John Breeden, Marjorie Gateson, and Cha ...

'' (1931) * ''

'' (1933) * '' Adventure in Manhattan'' (1936)

References

*Orlando Project, Cambridge University Press

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edginton, May 1883 births 1957 deaths 20th-century English novelists English romantic fiction writers English women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English women writers English women novelists 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights