POPULAR AUTHORESS
DEATH IK EHGLAKD Authoress of 75 novels which brought heart-throbs to maidens of the Edwardian era, Mrs Desmond Humphreys died recently at her home in Bath, states an overseas writer. Under her pen-name, “ Rita,” she wrote such books as ‘ The Sinner,’ ‘ The Sin of Jasper Standishj’ ‘ Peg the Rake,’ and ‘ Six Mistresses.’ She was educated in Australia, and began to write at the age of 10. The titles of her various books take up 30 lines in ‘ Who’s Who,’ but her greatest success was with ‘ Souls,’ which appeared in 1903, and purported to show up the state of contemporary society. She confessed later in life that she wrote about high society without any first-hand knowledge of titled people, but ‘ Souls ’ ran into many editions, and was immensely popular. Even 34 years ago she denounced the “ modern girl " who lost her womanly charm through this “ craze for athletics.” Queen Mary was a great admirer of “ Rita’s ” works, and a few years ago she ordered a complete set of them to he 'specially bound for her private library. Her last work was her autobiography, * Recollections of a Literary Life,’ published in February, 1936, with a foreword by Sir Philip Gibbs.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD19380223.2.140.4
Bibliographic details
Evening Star, Issue 22890, 23 February 1938, Page 17
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200POPULAR AUTHORESS Evening Star, Issue 22890, 23 February 1938, Page 17
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