Dorothea Deakin

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

Early life[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

^ ^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.
^ 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.
^ The Publishers Weekly. F. Leypoldt. 1906. p. 708.
^ "Dorothea Deakin". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
^ Drout, Michael D. C. (2007). J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-96942-0.
^ 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.
^ Deakin, Dorothea (2016-08-26). Georgie. Creative Media Partners, LLC. ISBN 978-1-362-55230-7.

[:0-1] 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.

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Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	United States