Florence Montgomery
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Florence Montgomery (1843–1923) was an English novelist and children's writer. Her 1869 novel ''Misunderstood'' was enjoyed by
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...
and
George du Maurier George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in ''Punch'' and a Gothic novel ''Trilby'', featuring the character Svengali. His son was the actor Sir Gerald ...
, and by
Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...
as a child. Her writings are pious in tone and set in fashionable society.


Early life and family

She was born Florence Harriet Montgomery in
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
,
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 17 January 1843, the second of the seven surviving children of Admiral Alexander Leslie Montgomery (1807–1888) and his wife Caroline Rose Campbell (1818–1909) of
Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...
,
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
. Her father was also an MP. He succeeded to a baronetcy in 1878. He was a cousin of the novelist Baroness von Tautphoeus (1807–1893). Her cousin, Sibyl Montgomery (died 1935), was the first wife of the
Marquess of Queensberry Marquess of Queensberry is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. The title has been held since its creation in 1682 by a member of the Douglas family. The Marquesses also held the title of Duke of Queensberry from 1684 to 1810, when it was in ...
and mother of Lord Alfred Douglas. Florence Montgomery's story-telling abilities were first tried on younger brothers and sisters, but the novelist G. J. Whyte-Melville saw a story of hers printed for a charity bazaar, about a golden-haired girl whose mother dies of scarlet fever, and advised that it should be published. "A Very Simple Story" appeared commercially in 1867 with illustrations by Sibyl Montgomery.


Works

Montgomery drew a distinction between her stories ''for'' children and her stories ''about'' children, which were intended for an adult audience as an encouragement to recognize children's merits. ''Misunderstood'' (1869), for instance, features an unperceptive father and a son thoughtful and loving before dying young. An edition illustrated by
George du Maurier George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in ''Punch'' and a Gothic novel ''Trilby'', featuring the character Svengali. His son was the actor Sir Gerald ...
followed in 1873.''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English'', eds Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy (London: Batsford, 1990), p. 752. Writing to Charles L. Dodgson (
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...
) about that time, du Maurier remarked, "Miss Florence Montgomery is a very charming and sympathetic young lady, the daughter of the admiral of that ilk. I am, like you, a very great admirer of 'Misunderstood,' and cried buckets over it." ''Seaforth'' (1878) is a full-length novel for adults. Almost all her works are pious in tone and set in fashionable society. They continued to sell into the 20th century, but by the end of that century they appear to have lost their appeal. One reference book of 1990 comments that "her later works, such as ''Seaforth'', 1878, and ''Colonel Norton'', 1895, have vapid plots and characters." Charlotte Mitchell, in her entry for the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', notes "an undercurrent of animosity against the modern young woman... for example Lady Jane Marton in ''Tony: a Sketch'' (1898), a hard, selfish, bicycling creature..."Charlotte Mitchell: Montgomery, Florence... In: ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004)
Retrieved 21 October 2010
/ref>
Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...
, on the other hand, recalls in his memoir ''Speak Memory'' that ''Misunderstood'' was the first English book his mother read to him, and "the fate of its hero Humphrey used to bring a more specialised lump to one's throat than anything in Dickens or Daudet." Almost all of Montgomery's novels were translated into German and French, and some into Italian, Dutch and Russian. ''Misunderstood'' has had two film adaptations: the Italian film '' Incompreso'' in 1966, and the American film '' Misunderstood'' in 1984.IMD
Retrieved 21 October 2010.
/ref>


Personal life

Montgomery never married, and had no children. She lived her whole life in the family home in
Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dang ...
, London, along with two likewise unmarried sisters.


Death

Montgomery died of
breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...
on 8 October 1923.


Bibliography


References


External links

* *Good-quality online reproduction of ''Misunderstood'' (PDF
Retrieved 11 January 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Florence 1843 births 1923 deaths English children's writers 19th-century English women writers 19th-century British writers English women writers Writers from London