Robert Hichens

Born in Kent in 1864, Robert Smythe Hichens built a long and varied literary career as a novelist, journalist, short story writer, lyricist, and music critic. He studied at the Royal College of Music before turning fully to writing, and his work often carried a strong feeling for style, mood, and place.

He first attracted wide attention with The Green Carnation (1894), a witty satirical novel closely linked with the aesthetic world of the 1890s. He went on to write many popular books, including The Garden of Allah and The Call of the Blood, showing a range that stretched from society satire to desert romance and darker, uncanny tales.

Although he was hugely successful in his day, Hichens is now less widely read than some of his contemporaries. Even so, his books still offer a vivid glimpse of fin-de-siècle culture and early twentieth-century popular fiction, especially for listeners who enjoy elegant prose, exotic settings, and a touch of the strange.