Otago Witness (14/Sep/1888) - A Glimpse at the Home Life of a Popular Authoress
Details
- article: A Glimpse at the Home Life of a Popular Authoress
- newspaper: Otago Witness (14/Sep/1888)
- keywords: Eliot Stannard
Notes
- An article about Eliot Stannard's mother, who published under the pseudonym "John Strange Winter".
- The book "Cavalry Life and Regimental Legends" can be read online as part of the Women's Genre Fiction Project.
Article
A Glimpse at the Home Life of a Popular Authoress
The Cedars at Putney is the centre on Saturdays of a good many "stars" and nebulae of London's artistic firmament. Warm without effusiveness is the welcome which Mrs Stannard bestows on her guest. There is nothing to speed their parting. The riverside house and grounds are delightful. So is the company. Here, for instance, putting probing questions with the self-justificatory smile of a stranger in a strange land, anxious for information, is the placid and rather quizzical Mr Menpes, of Japanese fame. There is Mrs J. H Riddle, just come from her study 17 miles away, where the novel which is to give us a lady's idea of bill-discounting and stockbroking is lying ready for the press. A foreign countess, actresses and actors of more or less note, are engaged in examining the original drawings made for the "Bootle" series, a small group of ladies meanwhile admiring the healthy crow of the twins. The boy, by the way, is called Eliot Cardella, his mother's favourite character in "Cavalry Life," and the girl Violet Mignon. But their diminutives are "Booties" and "Betty."
Mrs Stannard is a vivacious, handsome, dark-eyed woman, with a graceful figure, and rather above the average height. Her dark, curling hair is faintly tinged with grey, evidently the result of hard work, for she is only 32. Her husband is a tall dark man, with a placid expression and a large moustache.
"Mrs Stannard," he said with a smile, "is not methodical. She leaves me to keep her hooks and see her publishers — in fact, she has never been inside a publisher's office."
"Do you think of dramatising any more of your books, Mrs Stannard?"
"No ; I have no idea of doing so at present. 'Bootle's Baby' underwent a good many alterations before it was produced, and dramatisation involves a good deal of work and anxiety." Mr Stannard went on to speak of the early struggles of his wife. "The MS. of this book," he said, "I offered to six publishers before it was accept. But now, of course, her books are sold before they are written."
"The last book," added Mr Stannard, "'Bootle's Children,' had a larger sale during the first fortnight than any shilling book Mrs Stannard has written. It runs 'Bootle's Baby' very close." A prolific writer, Mrs Stannard's name appears more often in the lists of new books than most authors. She believes in short stories, simply told, eschews tall talk, and favours the shilling volume-printed in readable type to suit travellers.
Mrs Stannard began writing early, and her first story was published in the Yorkshire Chronicle in 1874. After that small beginning she went on at a fairly rapid rate till 42 novels, some of three-volume bulk, fell to her pen. Some of these papers appeared in the "Family Herald." But before this she had seen some sound advice of John Ruskin's, based on the old saw that what was worth doing at all was worth doing well. Then she laid the foundation of her present simple-strong style. The marriage of the Stannards was essentially one of affection. They met in a Yorkshire country house in what Poe calls the month of "lonesome October." In four days they were engaged, and four months afterwards were married. This was in 1884, and although "John Strange Winter", is a mother first and a novelist afterwards, her best work has been done since her marriage. Mrs Stannard has had four children. The second, a girl, died shortly after birth, and the last two were twins. She nursed all her children up to that period of their existence when only mother's care can satisfy the inarticulate cravings of babyhood Even now, with her hands full of social duties, her creative brain active with the creatures of her fancy, she prepares every mouthful of her babies' food.
In answer to a question as to the time she devoted to her work, Mrs Stannard replied, "I have a late breakfast, and begin writing about 12, and usually leave off at 3. I never work at all unless I feel inclined, and sometimes this is not more than three days a week."
