Elinor Glyn (1864–1943)
Author of Three Weeks
About the Author
Image credit: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress)
Series
Works by Elinor Glyn
Six Days 5 copies
Elinor Glyn's Collected Works: Three Weeks, Red Hair, Beyond The Rocks, and More! (18 Works): Romantic Fiction (2014) 3 copies
Glorious flames 3 copies
The Irtonwood Ghost 3 copies
A szfinx 2 copies
Ambrosine története regény 1 copy
ZARA 1 copy
"Ello" ("It") : novela 1 copy
Blått blod 1 copy
En äventyrerska 1 copy
The third eye 1 copy
Sooner or later 1 copy
“It” and other stories 1 copy
Destruction 1 copy
Associated Works
Smart Set: Vol. 77, No. 2 (October, 1925) — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Sutherland, Elinor Glyn
- Other names
- Glyn, Elinor
- Birthdate
- 1864-10-17
- Date of death
- 1943-09-23
- Gender
- female
- Education
- governesses
- Occupations
- novelist
short story writer
screenwriter
autobiographer - Relationships
- Curzon, George Nathaniel (lover)
Gordon, Lucy Duff - Short biography
- Elinor Sutherland was born in Jersey in the Channel Islands, the daughter of a civil engineer. She was raised in Canada by her maternal grandmother and returned to Jersey when her mother remarried. She was reputed to be strikingly beautiful, with masses of red hair. Her elder sister was Lucy Christiana Sutherland, Lady Duff-Gordon, who with her husband Sir Cosmo survived the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 and became the renowned fashion designer "Madame Lucile." In 1892, Elinor married Clayton Glyn, a local landowner, with whom she had two daughters. Elinor Glyn became a hugely popular early 20th century novelist and screenwriter who pioneered mass market fiction for women. She coined the term "It" as a euphemism for sex appeal. A scene in one of her works inspired the famous doggerel: "Would you like to sin, with Elinor Glyn, On a tiger skin? Or would you prefer, To err with her, On some other fur?" She published her autobiography Romantic Adventures in 1936.
Glyn was among the guests at William Randolph Hearst's party on board his yacht Oneida on November 15, 1924 when producer Thomas Ince was shot. - Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- St Helier, Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey
- Places of residence
- St Helier, Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey
London, England, UK
Hollywood, California, USA
Guelph, Ontario, Canada - Place of death
- Chelsea, London, England, UK
Members
Reviews
***If you are planning on reading this book, please skip this review as there are spoilers included***
Red Hair by Elinor Glyn is a vintage romance story that was originally published in 1905. I suspect that the author had her tongue firmly in her cheek when she wrote about Evangeline Travers, a young, ravishing redhead who has been brought up by a rich guardian, Mrs. Carruthers. Upon Mrs. Carruthers death, her nephew and heir, Christopher arrives but he rejects the arranged marriage that the show more older woman desired. He then changes his mind, tries to contain Evangeline and marry her. His friend Lord Robert arrives and all too soon both men are dancing to the tune that Evangeline plays.
Evangeline is rather a provoking heroine, she appears to be amusing herself with these men, flirting outrageously and threatening to become an adventuress. It appears that because of her red hair everyone expects her to be trouble but with no connections or money there is not a lot she can do. Christopher eventually appears to forget about her but Lord Robert stays near and eventually wins Evangeline as his wife.
I found Red Hair to be rather dated and silly. It was originally published under the title “The Vicissitudes of Evangeline” which seems a much more fitting title. This was a light and quick read but I couldn’t help but think that the author originally meant for the romance to have been Evangeline and Christopher as they seemed to have much more chemistry and she and Lord Robert had. But Evangeline was very clever and perhaps becoming a duchess is exactly what she planned for. show less
Red Hair by Elinor Glyn is a vintage romance story that was originally published in 1905. I suspect that the author had her tongue firmly in her cheek when she wrote about Evangeline Travers, a young, ravishing redhead who has been brought up by a rich guardian, Mrs. Carruthers. Upon Mrs. Carruthers death, her nephew and heir, Christopher arrives but he rejects the arranged marriage that the show more older woman desired. He then changes his mind, tries to contain Evangeline and marry her. His friend Lord Robert arrives and all too soon both men are dancing to the tune that Evangeline plays.
Evangeline is rather a provoking heroine, she appears to be amusing herself with these men, flirting outrageously and threatening to become an adventuress. It appears that because of her red hair everyone expects her to be trouble but with no connections or money there is not a lot she can do. Christopher eventually appears to forget about her but Lord Robert stays near and eventually wins Evangeline as his wife.
I found Red Hair to be rather dated and silly. It was originally published under the title “The Vicissitudes of Evangeline” which seems a much more fitting title. This was a light and quick read but I couldn’t help but think that the author originally meant for the romance to have been Evangeline and Christopher as they seemed to have much more chemistry and she and Lord Robert had. But Evangeline was very clever and perhaps becoming a duchess is exactly what she planned for. show less
The 1907 equivalent of 50 Shades of Grey, panned by critics but setting readers’ hearts aflutter. Handsome and athletic young Englishman Paul Verdayne is sent abroad by his family to recover from an unfortunate romance with a girl below his class. In Switzerland, he meets an older Mysterious Lady, who affects a bright red slash of lipstick against a pale complexion (Perhaps author Elinor Glyn was modeling her heroine on the Marchesa Casati? I think the timing isn’t right; I don’t show more believe the Marchesa had adopted her trademark makeup style by 1907). Said Mysterious Lady quickly seduces Paul – well, quickly by 1907 standards, mostly accomplished with a “strange kiss” – and they spend the titular three weeks engaged in very discretely described amatory activity; in the most risqué scene, he enters her rooms and finds her stretched out on a tiger skin, with a rose in her teeth (she’s clothed – it’s 1907, after all – but it’s a “close-fitting” garment). I can’t go any further, lest spoilers. Strangely fun. In a latter novel, Ms. Glyn coined the term “It” to describe sex appeal; when “It” was filmed, Clara Bow became the “It Girl”. show less
Reviewed at Edwardian Promenade as: "A self made woman’s rise from a stenographer in a money lender’s office to a conspicuous round in the social ladder. How she learns from the mistakes she makes and how one’s actions come back to confront one make the story a life transcript. It is a constructive tale of how a woman made good in English society and her love story is evidently an engrossing one, and furthermore it is a perfectly proper story with a serious purpose. [Bookseller, vol. show more 45]
Melody: It’s always fun to see a heroine who is allowed to be smart and ambitious and doesn’t get punished for it — especially since she also doesn’t get punished for having pre-marital sex. Katherine’s efforts to better herself are a delight, and Glyn’s sharply observed social commentary is as good here as it is anywhere. I recommend this one pretty unequivocally." show less
Melody: It’s always fun to see a heroine who is allowed to be smart and ambitious and doesn’t get punished for it — especially since she also doesn’t get punished for having pre-marital sex. Katherine’s efforts to better herself are a delight, and Glyn’s sharply observed social commentary is as good here as it is anywhere. I recommend this one pretty unequivocally." show less
A high rating for this extraordinary book. Not for its literary quality, gawdelpus, but for the enormous pleasure to be derived from reading it, with its glorious, unintentional, comic qualities!
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Statistics
- Works
- 64
- Also by
- 3
- Members
- 519
- Popularity
- #47,859
- Rating
- 3.3
- Reviews
- 11
- ISBNs
- 295
- Languages
- 4
- Favorited
- 1
