Marjorie Bowen

Marjorie Bowen (pseudonym of Mrs Gabrielle Margaret V[ere] Long née Campbell), (1 November 1885 on Hayling Island, Hampshire - 23 December 1952) was a British author who wrote historical romances, supernatural horror stories, popular history and biography.^[1] Her total output numbers over 150 volumes with the bulk of her work under the 'Bowen' pseudonym. She also wrote under the names Joseph Shearing, George R. Preedy, John Winch, Robert Paye and Margaret Campbell. As Joseph Shearing, she wrote several sinister gothic romances full of terror and mystery. Many of these stories were published as Berkley Medallion Books. Several of her books were adapted as films.

Her books are much sought after by aficionados of gothic horror and received praise from critics. According to Sally Benson in The New Yorker (1965) "Mr Shearing is a painstaking researcher, a superb writer, a careful technician, and a master of horror. There is no one else quite like him". Graham Greene stated in his Paris Review interview (Autumn 1953), "I chose Marjorie Bowen [as a major influence] because as I have told you, I don't think that the books that one reads as an adult influence one as a writer...But books such as Marjorie Bowen's, read at a young age, do influence one considerably."^[2]

Bowen's alcoholic father left the family at an early age and was eventually found dead on a London street. After this, Bowen's prolific writings were the chief financial support for her family. She was married twice: first, from 1912-16, to a Sicilian named Zefferino Emilio Constanza, who died of tuberculosis, and then to one Arthur L. Long. Her first novel was The Viper of Milan (1906), after which she produced a steady stream of writings until the day of her death.^[3] Her last, posthumous, novel was The Man with the Scales (1954).

Works

• The Viper of Milan (1906)
• The Master of Stair (1907)
• The Glen O'Weeping (1907)
• The Sword Decides (1908)
• A Moment's Madness (1908)
• The Leopard and the Lily (1909)
• Black Magic: a Tale of the Rise and Fall of the Antichrist (1909) - about how a sorceress called Ursula becomes Pope Joan
• I Will Maintain (1910)
• God and the King (1911)
• "Defender of the Faith" (1911)
• God's Playthings (1912)
• The Rake's Progress (1912)
• The Quest of Glory (1912)
• A Knight of Spain (1913)
• The Two Carnations (1913)
• Prince and Heretic (1914)
• Because of These Things (1915)
• Mr Washington (1915)
• Shadows of Yesterday (1916)
• Curious Happenings (1917) - short stories
• Crimes of Old London (1919) - short stories
• The Cheats, A Romantic Fantasy (1920)
• Roccoco (1921)
• The Haunted Vintage (1921)
• Stinging Nettles (1923) - a semi-autobigraphical novel relating to Bowen's doomed marriage to Zefferino
• Seeing Life! (1923)
• Mistress Nell Gwynne (1926) (as Joseph Shearing) - adapted as a film by Herbert Wilcox
• "Five Winds" (1927)
• The Pagoda (1927)
• Dark Ann (1927) - short stories
• Exits and Farewells (1928)
• General Crack (1928) (as George R. Preedy) - adapted as the film General Crack (1930), starring John Barrymore
• The Golden Roof (1928)
• Sheep's Head and Babylon, and Other Stories of Yesterday and Today (1929) - short stories
• The Great Weird Stories (1929) (editor) (as Arthur Neale)
• The Devil's Jig (1930) (as Robert Paye)
• The Rocklitz (UK) aka The Prince's Darling (USA) (1930) (as George Preedy)
• Grace Latouche and the Warringtons (1931) - short stories
• The Shadow on Mockways (1932) - a Grand Guignol melodrama
• Forget-me-Not (1932) (as Joseph Shearing)
• The Veil'd Delight (1933)
• Great Tales of Horror (1933) (editor)
• Julia Roseingrave (1933) (as Robert Paye) - a tale of witchcraft
• The Last Bouquet, Some Twilight Tales (1933) - short stories
• Dr Chaos and the Devil Snar'd (1933) (as George R. Preedy)
• The Triumphant Beast (1934)
• The Scandal of Sophie Dawes (1934)- about the low-born courtesan Sophie Dawes, Baronne de Feuchères, described by Bowen as a "vulgar wanton", "a young slut" and a "gutter rat"^[4]
• Moss Rose (1934) (as Joseph Shearing) - adapted as the film Moss Rose (1947)
• More Great Tales of Horror (1935) (editor)
• The Angel of the Assassination (1935) (as Joseph Shearing) - a biography of Charlotte Corday
• The Poisoners (1936) (as George R. Preedy)
• Trumpets at Rome (1936)
• This Shining Woman (1937)
• Wrestling Jacob. A study of the life of John Wesley and some members of the family. (1937)
• God and the Wedding Dress (1938)
• Orange Blossoms (1938) (as Joseph Shearing) - short stories
• Blanche Fury (1939) (as Joseph Shearing) - adapted as the film Blanche Fury (1948)
• Mr. Tyler's Saints (1939)
• The Circle in the Water (1939)
• The Debate Continues: being the Autobiography of Marjorie Bowen (1939) (as Margaret Campbell)
• Ethics in Modern Art (1939)
• The Crime of Laura Sarelle (1941) (as Joseph Shearing) - according to a review by Will Cuppy "Those who want a good workout of the more perilous emotions will do well to read Mr. Shearing's impressive tale of love, death and doom... Join the Shearing cult and meet one of the most malevolent females in song or story".
• The Golden Violet (1941) (as Joseph Shearing)
• The Spectral Bride also known as The Fetch (1942) (as Joseph Shearing)
• Airing in a Closed Carriage (1943) - adapted as the film The Mark of Cain (1947)
• The Abode of Love (1944) (as Joseph Shearing)
• So Evil My Love (1947) (as Joseph Shearing) about the Charles Bravo murder - adapted as the film So Evil My Love (1948)
• The Bishop of Hell and Other Stories (1949) - selected short stories from her earlier output
• The Man with the Scales (1954)
• Kecksies and Other Twilight Tales (1976) - short stories

References

1. ^ "Marjorie Bowen" in Jack Sullivan (ed) (1986) The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural: 50
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ The Life of Marjorie Bowen
4. ^ Worthless Wanton

• Bleiler, Everett (1948). The Checklist of Fantastic Literature. Chicago: Shasta Publishers. p. 57. 
• Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. pp. 280–281. ISBN 0-911682-20-1. 

External links

• Works by Marjorie Bowen at Project Gutenberg of Australia
• The Life of Marjorie Bowen

Persondata
Name	Bowen, Marjorie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 November 1885
Place of birth
Date of death	23 December 1952
Place of death