Marjorie Bowen is the best-known pseudonym of Gabrielle Margaret Vere Campbell, but she wrote under a variety of others, including Joseph Shearing, George R. Preedy, Robert Paye, and John Winch. She wrote in a range of genres, including romance, supernatural, and historical novels; short stories; biographies; and children's books. In her autobiography, The Debate Continues (1939), she defines herself as "a woman who earned her living by writing fiction--with occasional essays in that kind of history deplored by historians." Bowen was prolific, writing at least 150 books, and she conceived of herself in clearheaded fashion as a competent crafter of light fiction portraying a gallery of women protagonists for a largely female public.

Born on 1 November 1886 on Hayling Island, Hampshire, Bowen was the second daughter of Vere Douglas Campbell and Josephine Elisabeth Ellis (Bowen), whose marriage was unhappy. Her childhood was marred by her parents' poverty and the breakup of...