author
Margaret Turnbull
1872–1942
A Scottish-born novelist, playwright, and silent-film screenwriter, she built a career that moved easily between books, the stage, and early cinema. Her work reflects a moment when storytelling was expanding into new forms and reaching new audiences.
1 Audiobook
W. A. G.'s Tale
by Margaret Turnbull
About the author
Born in Glasgow on November 17, 1872, Margaret Turnbull became a versatile writer whose career spanned novels, plays, and screenwriting. Reliable sources identify her as a Scottish novelist, playwright, and writer for silent films, and her life later took her to the United States, where she died in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1942.
Turnbull is especially notable for her work during the silent-film era. She wrote for dozens of films between the 1910s and 1930s, helping shape stories at a time when cinema was still inventing its language. Alongside that screen work, she also published fiction, including novels such as The Close Up, Alabaster Lamps, and The Bride's Mirror.
What makes her memorable today is the range of her writing life. She was part of an early generation of authors who crossed freely between print, theater, and film, showing how adaptable a storyteller could be as new media emerged.