Alice Dracott

Alice Elizabeth Dracott was a British author remembered chiefly for Simla Village Tales; Or, Folk Tales from the Himalayas, published in 1906. The book gathers traditional stories from the Simla region and presents them for English readers in a lively, accessible way.

In the preface, she explains that the collection grew out of stories told to her in India. She also notes that after she had to leave India suddenly following the Punjab earthquake of April 1905, her sister Mabel Baldwin helped complete the work from the same sources. That glimpse of her own circumstances gives the book a personal, on-the-ground feel.

Dracott also wrote The Voice of Mystic India in 1930, showing a continued interest in Indian culture and religious life. Although not much biographical detail is easy to confirm, her surviving books suggest a writer deeply interested in preserving and sharing traditional storytelling.