Edith Allonby

Born on December 1, 1875, Edith Allonby was an English writer and teacher. Her surname also appears in some sources as Allanby or Allenby. Though she died young, she wrote three novels and is remembered today for her place in early fantasy and speculative fiction.

Two of her novels were set on a fictional planet, giving her work an inventive, otherworldly quality that stands out for the period. Jewel Sowers was published in 1903, and Marigold appeared in 1905. A third novel, The Fulfilment, was completed before her death and published afterward.

Allonby died on September 5, 1905, at just 29 years old. Her life is often discussed because of the tragic circumstances of her death, but her work also deserves attention for its unusual imagination and for the way it crosses between fantasy, allegory, and the early history of science fiction.