Dorothea Deakin

English writer (1876–1924)

Deakin's book of short stories, 'Georgie'.

Dorothea Deakin (1876–1924) was an English writer of short stories, plays, and village life novels.

## Early life

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She was the daughter of Saretta, the sister of children's writer E. Nesbit. After Saretta's death in 1899, Nesbit 'treated Dorothea like a third daughter,' taking her on holiday with the family, and is cited as an inspiration for Dorothea's beginning to write at the age of sixteen.[1]

## Writing

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She and Nesbit wrote two one-act plays together, The King’s Highway and The Philandrist, or the London Fortune Teller, which were performed in 1905.[1] Dorothea's short story The Wishing Ring was also the basis of a play by Owen Davis.[2]

In 1906, Dorothea's book 'Georgie' was taken on by Nesbit's agent at her request.

Georgie was called by a contemporary reviewer 'Just a jolly book for an idle hour.'[3] Deakin's books have been described unfavourably as 'fairly tedious comedies of village or country house life... The standard Deakin figure is the heroine of boyish charm whose lover calls her a "good sport" and whose mission in life is to upset the rector's wife.'[4]

## Later life

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In 1910 she married R.W. Reynolds, the schoolmaster of J.R.R. Tolkien. They had three daughters.[5] In 1922 the pair moved to Capri, hoping for an improvement in Dorothea's tuberculosis.[6] She died in 1924.

## Select works

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* The Smile of Melinda (1903)
* The Poet and the Pierrot (1905)
* 'Georgie' (1906)[7]
* Tormentilla (1908)
* The Young Columbine (1908)
* The Goddess Girl (1910)

## References

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1. ^ a b Fitzsimons, Eleanor (2019-10-08). The Life and Loves of E. Nesbit: Victorian Iconoclast, Children's Author, and Creator of The Railway Children. Abrams. ISBN 978-1-68335-687-5.
2. ^ Nunn, William Curtis (1981). Marguerite Clark, America's Darling of Broadway and the Silent Screen. TCU Press. p. 22\. ISBN 978-0-912646-69-5.
3. ^ The Publishers Weekly. F. Leypoldt. 1906. p. 708.
4. ^ "Dorothea Deakin". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
5. ^ Drout, Michael D. C. (2007). J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-96942-0.
6. ^ Smith, Martin Ferguson (2021-07-20). In and out of Bloomsbury: Biographical essays on twentieth-century writers and artists. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-5743-0.
7. ^ Deakin, Dorothea (2016-08-26). Georgie. Creative Media Partners, LLC. ISBN 978-1-362-55230-7.

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States