author
Lorna Rea
1897–1978
A British novelist of the interwar years, she is best remembered for writing family-centered fiction with a sharp eye for women’s lives and social change. Her best-known novel, Six Mrs. Greenes, follows several generations with warmth, wit, and close observation.
1 Audiobook
Six Mrs. Greenes
by Lorna Rea
About the author
Born in Glasgow in 1897 as Lorna Mitchell Smith, she later became Lorna Rea after marrying Philip Russell Rea. Reliable records identify her as a novelist, and the National Portrait Gallery lists her under her married name, Lorna Rea (née Smith), with the life dates 1897–1978.
Her work is now most easily traced through surviving library and public-domain records. Six Mrs. Greenes, first published in 1929 and now available through Project Gutenberg, is the novel most often associated with her. Bookseller and catalog records also show other titles, including Rachel Moon, The Happy Prisoner, and The Spanish Armada.
Although she is not widely remembered today, her fiction still stands out for its interest in family relationships, marriage, and the changing place of women in modern society. Readers drawn to rediscovered early-20th-century British fiction may find in her work a thoughtful, quietly compelling voice.