Evelyn Everett-Green

Born in London in 1856, she was an English novelist who produced an astonishingly large body of work over the course of her career. She began by writing religious and improving stories for children, then became known for historical fiction aimed at older girls, and later also wrote romantic fiction for adults.

She came from a notably literary and artistic family: her mother, Mary Anne Everett Green, was a respected historian, and her father, George Pycock Green, was an artist. She studied at Bedford College and also attended the Royal Academy of Music, an unusual mix that hints at the broad cultural education behind her writing life.

Everett-Green is often described as having written around 350 books, including many published under her own name and some under pseudonyms such as H. F. E., Cecil Adair, E. Ward, and Evelyn Dare. She died in Funchal, Madeira, in 1932, leaving behind a huge catalogue that still gives modern readers a vivid glimpse of Victorian and Edwardian popular storytelling.