Margaret Mary Julia Devlin (née Ashford; 3 April 1881 – 15 January 1972), known as Daisy Ashford, was an English writer who is most famous for writing ''

The Young Visiters ''The Young Visiters'' or ''Mister Salteena's Plan'' is a 1919 novel by English writer Daisy Ashford (1881–1972). She wrote it when she was nine years old and part of its appeal lies in its juvenile innocence, and its unconventional grammar an ...

'', a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

concerning the

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...

society of late 19th century England, when she was just nine years old. The novella was published in 1919, preserving her juvenile spelling and punctuation. She wrote the title as "Viseters" in her manuscript, but it was published as "Visiters".

Life

Early life and education

Daisy Ashford - Project Gutenberg eText 21415

Daisy Ashford was born on 3 April 1881 in Petersham, Surrey, the eldest of three daughters born to Emma Georgina Walker and William Henry Roxburgh Ashford. She was largely educated at home with her sisters Maria Veronica 'Vera' (born 1882) and Angela Mary 'Angie' (born 1884).

Career

At the age of four Daisy dictated her first story, ''The Life of Father McSwiney'', to her father; it was published in 1983. From 1889 to 1896 she and her family lived at 44 St Anne's Crescent,

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

, where she wrote ''The Young Visiters''.The Culture Trail web site
She wrote several other stories; a play, ''A Woman's Crime''; and one other short novel, ''The Hangman's Daughter'', which she considered to be her best work. Some stories written by Ashford are lost. She stopped writing during her teens. In 1896 the family moved to the Wallands area of Lewes, and in 1904 she moved with her family to Bexhill, and then to London where she worked as a secretary. She ran a canteen in

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

during the First World War. When published in 1919, ''The Young Visiters'' was an immediate success, and several of her other stories were published in 1920. Ashford bought a farm on the proceeds of ''The Young Visiters'' and once observed, “I like fresh air — and royalties.” She did not write in later years, although in old age she did begin an autobiography which she later destroyed.

Personal life

In 1920, at the age of 38, Ashford married James Devlin with whom she had four children. They ran a flower-growing business near Norwich and later the King's Arms Hotel in Reepham for a year. Devlin died in 1956.

Death

She died on 15 January 1972 in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, England, and was buried at Earlham Road Cemetery there.

Legacy

Edmund Wilson Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer and literary critic who explored Freudian and Marxist themes. He influenced many American authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose unfinished work he edited for publi ...

referred to the novel ''

This Side of Paradise ''This Side of Paradise'' is the debut novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1920. It examines the lives and morality of carefree American youth at the dawn of the Jazz Age. Its protagonist, Amory Blaine, is an attractive ...

'' by his friend

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

as "a classic in a class with ''The Young Visiters''",Mizener, Arthur (1965). ''The far side of paradise: a biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald'', p. 369 a way of deeming the style childish or naïve.

Published writings

* '' The Young Visiters, or, Mr Salteena's Plan''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1919 * ''Daisy Ashford: Her Book: A Collection of the Remaining Novels''. London: George H. Doran and Company, 1920 * ''Love and Marriage: Three Stories''. London: Hart-Davis, 1965 * ''Where Love Lies Deepest''. London: Hart-Davis, 1966 * ''The Hangman's Daughter and Other Stories''. Oxford University Press 1983 (Includes ''The Life of Father McSwiney'')

References

External links

* * * *
"Daisy Ashford a Very Real Young Lady"
31 August 1919, ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'', Page 74 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashford, Daisy English women novelists British child writers 1881 births 1972 deaths People from Surrey (before 1889) 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers People from Reepham, Norfolk People from Richmond, London