- Sarah Millin
-
Sarah Millin, before 1931
Sarah Gertrude Millin, née Liebson (March 19, 1889 – July 6, 1968) was a Kimberley, South African-born writer. In her lifetime, she was one of the most popular English-language novelists in South Africa. She also wrote biographies of Cecil Rhodes and General Jan Smuts.
Her husband, Philip Millin, a judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa, died of heart failure on the bench while she had just begun to write her autobiography The Measure of My Days, an event which affected her deeply (Margaret Lane, reviewing the autobiography in the Sunday Times).
Contents
Bibliography
Fiction
The Dark River was first published in the United Kingdom (UK) by William Collins (publisher) Sons & Co., Ltd. in 1919, and in the US by Thomas Seltzer in 1920. Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd. reprinted The Dark River in 1928 under its Constable's Miscellany series.
Middle Class was first published in the UK by W. Collins Sons & Co., Ltd. in 1921. It was not published in the USA. Constable & Co. Ltd. reprinted Middle Class in 1928 under its Constable's Miscellany series.
Adam's Rest was first published in the UK by W. Collins Sons & Co., Ltd. in 1922 and in the US by Horace Liveright in 1930. Constable & Co. Ltd. reprinted Adam's Rest in 1928 under its Constable's Miscellany series.
The Jordans was first published in the UK by W. Collins Sons & Co., Ltd. in 1923; it was not published in the US. Constable & Co. Ltd. reprinted The Jordans in 1928 under its Constable's Miscellany series.
God's Stepchildren was published in 1924 by Constable & Co. Ltd. in the UK and by Boni & Liveright in the US. It proved to be Millin's greatest success. Particularly, the US release enjoyed numerous printings, and Grosset & Dunlap also reprinted God's Stepchildren.
Mary Glenn was published in 1925 by Constable & Co. Ltd. in the UK and by Boni & Liveright in the US. Grosset & Dunlap reprinted it, and Mary Glenn was also adapted as a play, being first produced retitled "No Longer Mourn" in London, England, at the Gate Theatre, in 1935.
The Coming of the Lord was published in 1928 by Constable & Co. Ltd. in the UK, by Macmillan in Canada, and by Horace Liveright in the US. It was reprinted by Grosset & Dunlap.
An Artist in the Family was also published in 1928. Constable & Co. Ltd. served the UK market, Macmillan the Canadian market, and Boni & Liveright the US market.
The Fiddler was published in 1929 by Constable & Co. Ltd. in the UK and by Horace Liveright in the US.
The Sons of Mrs Aab was published in 1931 in the UK by Chatto & Windus and in the US by Boni & Liveright.
Three Men Die was published in 1934 in the UK and the US by Chatto & Windus and Harper & Brothers, respectively.
What Hath a Man? was published in 1938 in the UK and the US by Chatto & Windus and Harper & Brothers, respectively.
The Herr Witchdoctor was published in the UK by William Heinemann in 1941. In 1941 in the US it was published under the title The Dark Gods by Harper & Brothers. This novel of Nazis in South Africa is largely forgotten, but remains an excellent reference for students of South African history.
The King of the Bastards is a novel of a small colored community in the Northern Transvaal, descendants of Coenraad Buys and his harem of native women. With a foreword by Jan Smuts, it was published in 1949 in the US by Harper & Brothers, and in 1950 in the UK by William Heinemann.
The Burning Man, a sister novel running in parallel in time to The King of the Bastards, is the story of Johannes van der Kemp, military officer, doctor, and philosopher, who eventually became a missionary in South Africa. In 1952 William Heinemann published the novel in the UK while G.P. Putnam's Sons published it in the US.
Two Bucks Without Hair & Other Stories was published in 1957 in the UK by Faber & Faber, in South Africa by Central News Agency, and in Rhodesia by Kingston's.
The Wizard Bird was published in 1962 in the UK by William Heinemann, in South Africa by Central News Agency, and in Rhodesia by Kingston's.
Goodbye, Dear England was Millin's last novel. It was published in 1965 in the UK by William Heinemann.Non-fiction
The South Africans was Millin's first foray into non-fiction. It was published in the UK in 1926 by Constable & Co. Ltd, and in the US in 1927 by Boni & Liveright.
Men on a Voyage differs from anything else Millin ever produced. It consists of thoughts and essays on various subjects. Men on a Voyage was only released in the UK and the Commonwealth, and was published in 1930 by Constable & Co. Ltd.
Her biography of Cecil Rhodes is still considered to be an authoritative source of information on the Diamond Magnate's life. Chatto & Windus published Rhodes in 1933, and then a revised edition in 1952. Harper & Brothers released the work in the US in 1933 under the title Cecil Rhodes. Millin is credited as one of the contributors to the screenplay for the film Rhodes of Africa, which was released in 1936 and starred Walter Huston. To coincide with the release of Rhodes of Africa, Grosset & Dunlap reprinted this biography in the US under the title Cecil Rhodes, Empire Builder.
General Smuts is Millin's second biography. In 1936 it was published in two volumes. Faber & Faber served the UK market while Little, Brown and Company served the American market.
Millin contributed the chapter on South Africa contained in The British Commonwealth & Empire (nonfiction, W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1943)
The People of South Africa is an expansion of The South Africans of 1926. Constable & Co. Ltd published it in 1951 in the UK and Alfred A Knopf published it in America in 1954.
Millin acted as Editor of White Africans Are Also People, published in 1966 in South Africa by Howard Timmons, and in the UK by Bailey Swinfen.Autobiography
The Night is Long, Millin's first autobiography, was published in 1941 in the UK by Faber & Faber.
During World War II Millin wrote a six-volume diary published in the UK by Faber & Faber as World Blackout (1944); The Reeling Earth (1945); The Pit of the Abyss (1946); The Sound of the Trumpet (1947); Fire Out of Heaven (1947); and The Seven Thunders (1948).
The Measure of My Days is Millin's second autobiography, published in 1955 by Faber & Faber in the UK, Central News Agency in South Africa, and Kingston's in Rhodesia.Sources
References
- Martin Rubin Sarah Gertrude Millin: A South African Life," A.D. Donker, South Africa in 1977
- J.P.L. Snyman, The Works of Sarah Gertrude Millin (1955)
- "Millin, Sarah Gertrude". (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 8, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9052735
Categories:- South African writers
- 1889 births
- 1968 deaths
- South African people
- South African Jews
- Lithuanian Jews
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