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Marie Corelli (M. Mackay) (1855
- 1924)
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 Idol
of Suburbia : Marie Corelli and Late-Victorian Literary Culture
(Victorian Literature and Culture Series) by Annette
Federico
Marie Corelli (1855-1924) was the most popular
novelist of the turn of the century, outselling Hall Caine, Mrs.
Humphry Ward, H. G. Wells, and Arthur Conan Doyle by the
thousands. For thirty years she was ridiculed by reviewers and the
literary elite--Edmund Gosse dismissed her as "that little
milliner"--but these opinions had no impact on her mass
appeal. In 1895, with The Sorrows of Satan, she broke all previous
publishing records, and by 1906 a Corelli novel sold 100,000
copies a year.
"Idol of Suburbia
is not only a discerning study of Marie Corelli--the most widely
popular British novelist of the late-Victorian and Edwardian
years--but also a model of readable and intelligent cultural
criticism. Annette Federico's close focus on selected issues is
especially useful in treating visual culture, conflicts over the
meaning of realism, the creation of a feminine aesthetic, the
gendering of modernism, and the interaction of mass readership
with literary reputation." -- Sally Mitchell, Temple
University
 The
Secret Power - 1921
Marie Corelli
I still remember, opening my father's dusty
trunks filled with books in our attic and being introduced to the
strange world of Morgana Royal. It was Corelli's indomitable
Morgana who inspired me to choose a career in Engineering, and the
notion that for a woman nothing is impossible if there is a thirst
for knowledge.
Through the years Morgana, with her great
intellect and sarcastic wit has continued to be my inspiration.
Corelli's prose is rich and vivid., and she makes Morgana
believable and endearing. Bitterly cynical, the book rings with
criticism of human society and men in particular, but it is
Morgana who captures the readers imagination. The story contains
some fantastical arguments about Miss Corelli's mystical beliefs,
but still makes good reading. -- Anonymous Review
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Excerpt:
Novelist, daughter of Charles Mackay, a Scottish
poet and song writer. Mary spent her youth in Mickleham, Surrey
before moving to London in 1882. She became a talented pianist,
using the name Marie Corelli for performances, but turned to
writing romantic fiction using the same pseudonym. A Romance of
Two Worlds (1886) was her first published novel and she
enjoyed popular success from Thelma (1887) onwards,
particularly with Barabbas (1893) and The Sorrows of
Satan (1895). In 1901 she moved to Stratford-upon-Avon,
purchasing Mason Croft, a house reputed to have belonged to the
daughter of William Shakespeare. Mary Mackay, the person, was
somewhat larger than life, as was Marie Corelli, the author. She
became a well known figure in the town and had her own gondola on
the River Avon. Her knack for drawing attention to herself was
coupled with her own self-determination and self-appreciation. Her
constant companion, Bertha Vyver, wrote an appreciative memoir
which was published in 1940...
This site also hosts first chapters of The secret power
and A
Romance of Two Worlds
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by Barbara
Grier
Excerpt:
During the last years of the Victoria era and
the first years of this century, the lush romantic novelist, Marie
Corelli enthralled an enormous public. Dashing heroes and damsels
in distress were the stock in trade of this "Best
Selling" author for many many years. Amusingly her public
would have been quite horrified had they known of her private
life, had anyone dared print it.
Early in her life, Marie's family took in an
impoverished child from a good family, just one year older than
Marie, called Bertha
Vyver. Bertha lived with Marie all of her life (until Marie
died) and later wrote the story of this unusual affair in Memoirs
Of Marie Corelli, Alston Rivers, 1930...
This text is from Lesbian Lives by Barbara
Grier
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Names Index:
A B
C D
E F
G H
I J
K L
M N
O P
Q R
S T
U V
W X
Y Z
| Authors
Index | Scholars
Index |
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