Virginia Terhune Van de Water

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Virginia Terhune Van de Water was the daughter of bestselling author Mary Virginia Terhune, better known as Marion Harland. Writing ran in the family: her siblings included Christine Terhune Herrick and Albert Payson Terhune, both authors as well.

Her books ranged from practical household and etiquette-minded writing to fiction, including From Kitchen to Garret, In the Web of Life, and Two Sisters. She also collaborated with her mother on Everyday Etiquette, and reference sources note that she was educated by governesses and in private schools in America, Rome, and Geneva.

Van de Water's storytelling also found an audience in early cinema. Three of her stories were adapted for film: If My Country Should Call (1916), The Lesson (1917), and Two Sisters (1929). She died in 1945, leaving behind work that reflects both the domestic concerns and the popular storytelling tastes of her era.