F. Anstey

F. Anstey was the pen name of Sir Thomas Anstey Guthrie, an English writer born in London in 1856. He was educated at King’s College School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and was called to the bar in 1880 before literature pulled him in another direction.

His breakthrough came with Vice Versa (1882), a comic novel about a father and son who swap identities, and he went on to build a reputation for light fantasy, parody, and social comedy. He is also remembered for works such as The Tinted Venus and for his humorous writing in Punch magazine.

Anstey’s fiction often begins with an absurd or magical twist and then follows the chaos with a very straight face, which gives his stories much of their charm. He died in 1934, but his best work still feels lively, playful, and easy to enjoy.