Ellen Price (17 January 1814 – 10 February 1887) was an English novelist better known as Mrs. Henry Wood. She is best remembered for her 1861 novel ''

East Lynne ''East Lynne'' is an English sensation novel of 1861 by Ellen Wood, writing as Mrs Henry Wood. A Victorian best-seller, it is remembered chiefly for its elaborate and implausible plot, centring on infidelity and double identities. There have ...

''. Many of her books sold well internationally and were widely read in the United States. In her time, she surpassed

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 ...

in fame in Australia.

Life

Ellen Price was born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

in 1814. In 1836 she married Henry Wood, who worked in the banking and shipping trade in Dauphiné in the South of France, where they lived for 20 years. On the failure of Wood's business, the family (including four children) returned to England and settled in

Upper Norwood Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark. It is north of Croydon and the eastern part of it is better known as the Crystal Palace area. Upper Norwood is situated ...

near London, where Ellen Wood turned to writing. This supported the family. Henry Wood died in 1866. She wrote over 30 novels, many of which (especially ''East Lynne'') enjoyed remarkable popularity. Among the best known are ''Danesbury House'', ''Oswald Cray'', ''Mrs. Halliburton's Troubles'', ''

The Channings ''The Channings'' is a 1920 British silent crime film directed by Edwin J. Collins and starring Lionelle Howard, Dick Webb and Dorothy Moody. It was based on the 1862 novel '' The Channings'' by Ellen Wood. Cast * Lionelle Howard ... Art ...

'', ''Lord Oakburn's Daughters'' and ''The Shadow of Ashlydyat''. Her writing tone would be described as "conservative and Christian," occasionally expressing religious rhetoric. In 1867, Wood purchased the English magazine ''Argosy'', which had been founded by Alexander Strahan in 1865. She wrote much of the magazine herself, but other contributors included

Hesba Stretton Hesba Stretton was the pseudonym of Sarah Smith (27 July 1832 – 8 October 1911), an evangelical English author of religious books for children. These were highly popular. By the late 19th century ''Jessica's First Prayer'' had sold a million a ...

Julia Kavanagh Julia Kavanagh (7 January 1824 – 28 October 1877) was an Irish novelist, born at Thurles in Tipperary, Ireland—then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Her numerous contributions to literature have classified her as one ...

, Christina Rossetti,

Sarah Doudney Sarah Doudney (15 January 1841, Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire – 8 December 1926, Oxford)Charlotte Mitchell"Doudney, Sarah (1841–1926)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, May 2005, ret ...

and

Rosa Nouchette Carey Rosa Nouchette Carey (27 September 1840 – 9 July 1909) was an English children's writer and popular novelist, whose works reflected the values of her time and were thought of as wholesome for girls. However, they are "not entirely bereft of gr ...

. Wood continued as its editor until her death in 1887, when her son Charles Wood took over.; ODNB entry
oxforddnb.com
Retrieved 31 May 2011. Wood's works were translated into many languages, including French and Russian.

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

, in a 9 March 1872 letter to his older brother Sergei, noted that he was "reading Mrs. Wood's wonderful novel ''In the Maze''". Wood wrote several works of supernatural fiction, including "The Ghost" (1867) and the oft-anthologized "Reality or Delusion?" (1868). At her death caused by bronchitis, Wood's estate was valued at over £36,000, which was then a considerable sum. She was buried in

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

, London. A monument to her was unveiled in

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified ...

in 1916.

Works

These are the first published UK editions as catalogued by the British Library, with supplementary information from a specialist booksellers' catalogue.''Women Writers R–Z'' (London: Jarndyce, 2012)

References

External links

* * *
Works by Mrs. Henry Wood
at Hathi Trust * *
Mrs. Henry Wood website
*
''Mrs Henry Wood Bibliography Of Contributions To Periodicals''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Ellen 1887 deaths 1814 births Victorian novelists Victorian women writers 19th-century British novelists Writers from Worcester, England English Christians English women novelists English horror writers Ghost story writers Burials at Highgate Cemetery Deaths from bronchitis Women horror writers 19th-century English women writers British magazine editors Women magazine editors

Life

Works

References

Further reading

External links