Phyllis Forbes Dennis ( ; 31 May 1884 – 22 August 1963) was a British novelist and short story writer.

Life and career

Bottome was born in 1882, in Rochester, Kent, the daughter of an American clergyman, Rev. William MacDonald Bottome, and an Englishwoman, Mary (Leatham) Bottome. In 1901, following the death of her sister Wilmett of the same disease, Bottome was diagnosed with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

. She travelled to

St Moritz St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in ...

in the hope that this would improve her health as mountain air was perceived as better for patients with tuberculosis. In 1917, in Paris, she married Alban Ernan Forbes Dennis, a British diplomat working firstly in Marseilles and then in Vienna as

Passport Control Officer The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

, a cover for his real role as MI6 Head of Station with responsibility for Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia. They had met in 1904 at a villa in St Moritz, where Bottome was lodging. Bottome studied

individual psychology Individual psychology (german: Individualpsychologie) is a psychological method or science founded by the Viennese psychiatrist Alfred Adler. The English edition of Adler's work on the subject (1925) is a collection of papers and lectures given mai ...

under

Alfred Adler Alfred Adler ( , ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, family constellation and birth orde ...

while in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1924 she and her husband started a school in Kitzbühel in Austria. Based on the teaching of languages, the school was intended to be a community and an educational laboratory to determine how psychology and educational theory could cure the ills of nations. One of their more famous pupils was Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels. In 1960, Fleming wrote to Bottome, "My life with you both is one of my most cherished memories, and heaven knows where I should be today without Ernan." It has been argued that Fleming took the idea of

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

from the character Mark Chalmers in Bottome's spy novel ''The Lifeline''. In 1935, her novel ''

Private Worlds ''Private Worlds'' is a 1935 dramatic film which tells the story of the staff and patients at a mental hospital and the chief of the hospital, who has problems dealing with a female psychiatrist. The film stars Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer, ...

'' was made into a film of the same title. Set in a psychiatric clinic, Bottome's knowledge of individual psychology proved useful in creating a realistic scene. Bottome saw her share of trouble with ''

Danger Signal ''Danger Signal'' is a 1945 film noir starring Faye Emerson and Zachary Scott. The screenplay was adapted from the 1939 novel of the same name by Phyllis Bottome. Plot A mysterious pulp writer—and psychopath—named Ronnie Mason, steals a ...

'', which the

Hays Office The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

forbade from becoming a Hollywood film. Germany became Bottome's home in the late 1930s,Dumont, Herve. ''Frank Borzage''. London: McFarland & Company, 2006. and it inspired her novel ''

The Mortal Storm ''The Mortal Storm'' is a 1940 American drama film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.''Harrison's Reports'' film review; June 22, 1940, page 98. It was directed by Frank Borzage and stars Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart. The film shows the ...

'', the film of which was the first to mention

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's name and be set in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Bottome was an active anti-fascist. In total, four of her works—''

'', ''

'', and '' The Heart of a Child''—were adapted to film. In addition to fiction, she is also known as an

Adlerian Individual psychology (german: Individualpsychologie) is a psychological method or science founded by the Viennese psychiatrist Alfred Adler. The English edition of Adler's work on the subject (1925) is a collection of papers and lectures given mai ...

who wrote a biography of

. Bottome died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

on 22 August 1963. Forbes Dennis would die in July 1972 in Brighton. There is a large collection of her literary papers and correspondence in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

acquired in 2000 (Add MSS 78832-78903). A second tranche, consisting of correspondence and literary manuscripts, was acquired by the British Library in 2005. The British Library also holds the Phyllis Bottome/Hodder-Salmon Papers consisting of correspondence, papers and press cuttings relating to Bottome.Phyllis Bottom/Hodder-Salmon Papers
archives and manuscripts catalogue, the British Library. Retrieved 7 May 2020

Books

She wrote her first novel when she was just seventeen. * ''The Dark Tower'', 1916 * ''The Second Fiddle'', 1917 * ''The Derelict'', 1917 (U.S.), 1923 (U.K.) * ''A Servant of Reality'', 1919 * ''Kingfisher'', 1922 * ''The Perfect Wife'', 1924 * ''Life of

Olive Schreiner Olive Schreiner (24 March 1855 – 11 December 1920) was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel ''The Story of an African Farm'' (1883), which has been highly acclaimed. It deal ...

'', 1924 * ''Old Wine'', 1925 * ''The Belated Reckoning'', 1926 * ''The Messenger of the Gods — The Story of a Girl of Today'', 1927,

George H. Doran Company George H. Doran Company (1908–1927) was an American Publishing, book publishing company established by George Henry Doran. He organized the company in Toronto and moved it to New York City on February 22, 1908. The firm prospered, becoming one ...

* ''Strange Fruit: Stories'', 1928 * ''Windlestraws'', 1929 * ''The Advances of Harriet'', 1933 * ''

'', 1934 * ''Level Crossing'', 1936 * ''

'', Oct 1937 * ''

– Apostle of Freedom''. London 1939, Faber & Faber, 3rd Ed. 1957 * ''

'', 1939 (original title: ''Murder in the Bud'') * ''Masks and Faces'', 1940 * ''Formidable to Tyrants'', 1941 * '' London Pride'', 1941. A boy's experience of the

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

and the Second World War. His family are separated by evacuation and a bombing raid destroys their home. After another raid he is injured and evacuated away from London. * ''Mansion House of Liberty'', 1941 * '' Heart of a Child'', 1942 * ''Within the Cup'', 1943 * ''Survival'', 1943 * ''From the Life'', 1944, London, Faber & Faber. Six studies of the author's friends Alfred Adler, Max Beerbohm, Ivor Novello, Sara Delano Roosevelt, Ezra Pound, Margaret MacDonald Bottome. * '' The Lifeline'', 1946 * ''Innocence and Experience'', 1947 * ''Search for a Soul'', 1947 * ''Fortune's Finger'', 1950 * ''Under the Skin – Love Drew no Color Line when a White Woman entered a Negro's World'', 1950 * ''The Challenge'', 1953 * ''The Secret Stair'', 1954 * ''Against Whom?'' 1954. By chance a patient is brought to a sanatorium on the verge of death. How he not only recovers but manages to influence the lives of the scientists who have observed him is the subject of this novel. In the course of the book the principal characters find either that they must think of others and put that thought into practise or that those same 'others' will become their enemy and destroy, one by one, his most intimate relationships. * ''Eldorado Jane'', 1956 * ''Walls of Glass'', 1958 * ''The Goal'', 1962 – her autobiography * ''Our New Order or Hitler's? A Selection of Speeches by Winston Churchill, Archbishop of Canterbury, Anthony Eden & Others'', ed. by Ph. Bottome, Penguin Books Middlesex 1943

References

External links

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Works
a
Open Library
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bottome, Phyllis 1880s births 1963 deaths 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century British short story writers British women short story writers Founders of educational institutions English people of American descent English short story writers English women novelists Language teachers People from Rochester, Kent

Life and career

Books

References

Further reading

External links