author
Countess (Hélène) Barcynska
1894–1964
A prolific British novelist who wrote under several names, she moved between fiction, film, and the stage with unusual ease. As Countess Hélène Barcynska, she brought a distinct identity to part of a long and varied writing career.
1 Audiobook
The Honey-Pot
by Countess (Hélène) Barcynska
About the author
Countess Hélène Barcynska was one of the pen names used by Marguerite Florence Laura Jarvis, a British writer, screenwriter, and actress better known in some circles as Oliver Sandys. Born in Hinthada, Burma, in 1886 and educated in England, she built a career that crossed novels, theater, and film.
She published under several names, including Countess Barcynska and Hélène Barcynska, and was notably prolific. Sources describe her as the daughter of an officer in the Indian Medical Corps, and note that she trained as an actress before turning to writing more fully. Her life also connected her to literary circles through her marriages to journalist Armiger Barczinsky and later the Welsh writer Caradoc Evans.
Her work page today can look a little puzzling because the name on the cover is not always the same, but that variety is part of what makes her interesting. Across those identities, she left behind the record of a busy creative life in early-20th-century British literature and entertainment.