MOLESWORTH, Mrs

“here is none left whose touch is so exquisite and masterly … so truthful, or so delightful as Mrs. Molesworth’s.”

Once described as “the best story-teller for children England has yet known”, Mary Louisa Molesworth (nee Stewart) is now barely recognised.  However, she was a prolific author of children’s stories in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  Born in Rotterdam, raised in Manchester, her first novel was for adults and appeared under the pseudonym of Ennis Graham.  Noel Patton advised her to write for children as her simple easy-going style of writing was more appropriate for that genre.

Mrs Molesworth, as she became known, wrote characters and stories simple enough for children to follow, but still fresh and engaging. She wrote with a joy that sprang through the page, using italics, exclamations, and colloquial speech to emote childish joy and delight. She was part of a new generation of children’s writers who wrote during the age of literary realism, a movement that moved away from romantic and idealized forms of literature and instead promoted more life-like characters and settings.  Although largely forgotten,  her style inspired writers such as Edith Nesbit and  Frances Hodgson Burnett.

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