Amy Roberta (Berta) Ruck (2 August 1878 – 11 August 1978), born in India, was a prolific Welsh writer of over 90

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 ...

s from 1905 to 1972. She also wrote short stories, an autobiography and two books of memoirs. Her married name was Mrs

Oliver Onions George Oliver Onions (13 November 1873 – 9 April 1961), who published under the name Oliver Onions, was an English writer of short stories and novels. He wrote in various genres, but is perhaps best remembered for his ghost stories, notably t ...

from 1909 until 1918, when her husband changed his name and she became Amy Oliver.

Early life

Born Amy Roberta Ruck on 2 August 1878 in

Murree Murree (Punjabi, Urdu: مری) is a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Muree District of Punjab, Pakistan. It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and is about ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

,"OLIVER, Amy Roberta" in ''The World Who's who of Women'', Vol. 1 (1973), p 651 she was one of the eight children of Eleanor D'Arcy and Colonel Arthur Ashley Ruck, a British army officer. The family moved to Wales, where Ruck was educated at St Winifred's School, Bangor."RUCK, Berta", in ''Twentieth-Century Romance and Gothic Writers'' (Macmillan International Higher Education, 1982)
p. 597
/ref> She then attended the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

to study art, winning a scholarship, and finally the Académie Colarossi in Paris. Bernard Darwin, the golf writer and grandchild of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

, was her cousin.

Personal life

In 1909, Ruck married a fellow novelist, (George)

(1873–1961). They had two sons: Arthur (born 1912) and William (born 1913). Her husband legally changed his name to George Oliver in 1918, but continued to publish under the name Oliver Onions. Berta Ruck was widowed in 1961. She was interviewed by the BBC in the 1970s about her life in the Victorian era. She died in

Aberdyfi Aberdyfi (), also known as Aberdovey ( ), is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales, located on the northern side of the estuary of the River Dyfi. The population of the community was 878 at the 2011 census. The electoral ward had a large ...

on 11 August 1978, nine days after her 100th birthday. Many of Ruck's letters and manuscripts are archived in the National Library of Wales.

Writing career

Berta Ruck began to contribute short stories and serials to magazines from 1905. She published her first novel, ''His Official Fiancée'', in 1914, which was the subject of two films: '' His Official Fiancée'' (1919, silent film directed by

Robert G. Vignola Robert G. Vignola (born Rocco Giuseppe Vignola, August 7, 1882 – October 25, 1953) was an Italian-American actor, screenwriter, and film director. A former stage actor, he appeared in many motion pictures produced by Kalem Company and later mov ...

) and ''Hans officiella fästmö'' (1944, Swedish film directed by Nils Jerring).

Partial bibliography

Novels

References

External links

* *
National Library of Wales, Berta Ruck MSSBerta Ruck tells BBC about everyday life of London in 1890s
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruck, Berta 1878 births 1978 deaths 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English novelists Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art English fantasy writers English centenarians People from Murree British women short story writers People educated at St Winifred's School Women science fiction and fantasy writers English women novelists 20th-century British short story writers Women centenarians