Dorothy Eden (1912–1982)
Author of An Afternoon Walk
About the Author
Dorothy Eden was born in Canterbury Plains, New Zealand on April 3, 1912. She worked as a legal secretary before moving to London, England in 1954 to become a full-time writer. She is best known for her writings in the historical, suspense, and Gothic genres. Her first novel, The Singing Shadows, show more was published in 1940. During her lifetime, she wrote more than 40 novels including Let Us Prey, The Vines of Yarrabee, Melbury Square, The Shadow Wife, An Afternoon Walk, The Salamanca Drum, and An Important Family. She also contributed to several magazines including Redbook and Good Housekeeping. She died of cancer on March 4, 1982 at the age of 69. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: The Herald & Weekly Times Limited
Works by Dorothy Eden
Eerie Nights in London: Death Is a Red Rose, Listen to Danger, and Night of the Letter (2013) 9 copies
Žrtveno jagnje 1 copy
Zamenjana nevesta 1 copy
Ravenscraft 1 copy
Revanche de l'amour 1 copy
Kvinnorna på Greenhill 1 copy
Den gyllene timmen 1 copy
A Filha do milionário 1 copy
Managing the South African War, 1899-1902: Politicians v Generals (Royal Historical Society Studies in History New… (1967) 1 copy
Dorothy Eden 4 Books / Waiting for Willa, the Voice of Dolls, the Time of the Dragon, Melbury Square (1972) 1 copy
Tout commencera demain 1 copy
Walk into My Parlour 1 copy
Associated Works
A Gothic Treasure Trove: Moonraker's Bride / The Golden Unicorn / Kirkland Revels / Wings of the Falcon / Lady of… (1987) — Contributor — 97 copies
Reader's Digest Condensed Books: Storm Island • Does She Know She's There? • The Storrington Papers • Flight to… (1979) — Contributor — 5 copies
Reader's Digest Auswahlbücher 98 - Wintersturm. Allawa. Alexander Dolguns Schicksal. Yarrabee 2 copies
Det bästas bokval 1971, Mannen frÃ¥n Tarsus, Flykten mot norr, Mysteriet Willa, Det svarta skeppet. (1971) — Author — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Eden, Dorothy
- Legal name
- Eden, Dorothy Enid
- Other names
- Paradise, Mary
- Birthdate
- 1912-04-03
- Date of death
- 1982-03-04
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- New Zealand
UK - Birthplace
- Canterbury Plains, New Zealand
- Place of death
- London, England, UK
- Cause of death
- cancer
- Places of residence
- Canterbury Plains, New Zealand
London, England, UK - Occupations
- novelist
short story writer
legal secretary - Agent
- Dorothy Olding
- Short biography
- Dorothy Eden was born in a farming community near Christchurch, New Zealand, where she attended school. She worked as a legal secretary and published her first novel, The Singing Shadows, in 1940. She took a trip around the world before moving to England in 1954 to further her writing career. She was best known for her many historical, suspense, and Gothic novels. She also contributed short stories to magazines, including Redbook and Good Housekeeping. An Important Family (1982), her 43rd book, was published in the year of her death.
Members
Reviews
The Vines of Yarrabee by Dorothy Eden is a 2013 Open Road Media publication. (Originally published in 1968)
Well, that was depressing.
Eugenia leaves her home in England, traveling to the wilderness of Australia to marry Gilbert, the owner of a vineyard plantation. It becomes immediately clear that Eugenia is second fiddle to her husband’s vineyard. Matters only get worse, when Gilbert brings in a widowed and pregnant convict to be a maid at their newly built home, appropriately named Yarrabee.
Eugenia struggles to find her role in the home, and in her marriage. Gilbert treats her like an ornament, a refined, delicate creature, smothering her nearly to death. Meanwhile, the maid secures a permanent role in the household, rolling up her sleeves and becoming more help to Gilbert than he would ever allow Eugenia to be.
As the years pass, children are born, the vines prosper and struggle, there are passions and heartbreaks and tragedies, while each person is trapped in a defined role, they are helpless to break free from, without ever truly knowing or understanding the people they are the most familiar with.
Those familiar with Dorothy Eden may associate her with the Gothic style romantic suspense genre that was so popular in the sixties and seventies.
This book doesn’t not fall into that category, but is, instead, a family saga, and pure historical fiction. There is no mystery, or supernatural element, and while Yarabee is a large house, it’s newly built, is not haunted, or crumbling, or set on the cliffs of Cornwall.
The story gets off to a slow start, but eventually, I found myself absorbed in Eugenia’s sad battle with homesickness, and the tragic way her life unfolds. While Gilbert’s dominance and his obsession with his vines makes it hard to like him, Eugenia could also try one’s patience. Of the two, though, I did sympathize with Eugenia, who was trapped in the proverbial ivory tower, but longed for more out her marriage and her life.
As I continued to read, I was buoyed by a few possibilities, but was disappointed over and over again, by the way the things turned out.
I could see a type of personal triumph, I suppose, with the way things turned out in the end. Unfortunately, it was not the way I would have liked the book to end. These events should have transpired much earlier in the book. As such, the conclusion left me feeling dispirited and unsatisfied, with some question as to how things might have proceeded from there for our Eugenia.
While I have read several of Eden’s novels over the years, there are still many I have yet to read, but to date, this one is my least favorite.
2.5 stars… (more)
Well, that was depressing.
Eugenia leaves her home in England, traveling to the wilderness of Australia to marry Gilbert, the owner of a vineyard plantation. It becomes immediately clear that Eugenia is second fiddle to her husband’s vineyard. Matters only get worse, when Gilbert brings in a widowed and pregnant convict to be a maid at their newly built home, appropriately named Yarrabee.
Eugenia struggles to find her role in the home, and in her marriage. Gilbert treats her like an ornament, a refined, delicate creature, smothering her nearly to death. Meanwhile, the maid secures a permanent role in the household, rolling up her sleeves and becoming more help to Gilbert than he would ever allow Eugenia to be.
As the years pass, children are born, the vines prosper and struggle, there are passions and heartbreaks and tragedies, while each person is trapped in a defined role, they are helpless to break free from, without ever truly knowing or understanding the people they are the most familiar with.
Those familiar with Dorothy Eden may associate her with the Gothic style romantic suspense genre that was so popular in the sixties and seventies.
This book doesn’t not fall into that category, but is, instead, a family saga, and pure historical fiction. There is no mystery, or supernatural element, and while Yarabee is a large house, it’s newly built, is not haunted, or crumbling, or set on the cliffs of Cornwall.
The story gets off to a slow start, but eventually, I found myself absorbed in Eugenia’s sad battle with homesickness, and the tragic way her life unfolds. While Gilbert’s dominance and his obsession with his vines makes it hard to like him, Eugenia could also try one’s patience. Of the two, though, I did sympathize with Eugenia, who was trapped in the proverbial ivory tower, but longed for more out her marriage and her life.
As I continued to read, I was buoyed by a few possibilities, but was disappointed over and over again, by the way the things turned out.
I could see a type of personal triumph, I suppose, with the way things turned out in the end. Unfortunately, it was not the way I would have liked the book to end. These events should have transpired much earlier in the book. As such, the conclusion left me feeling dispirited and unsatisfied, with some question as to how things might have proceeded from there for our Eugenia.
While I have read several of Eden’s novels over the years, there are still many I have yet to read, but to date, this one is my least favorite.
2.5 stars… (more)
The book I have is actually a combination of The Voice of the Dolls (published 1950) and Listen to Danger (published 1957). I inherited it in my mother's library and just now have gotten around to reading it. Both of these stories are gothic novels with a touch of the cozy mystery vibe in them. Dorothy Eden was very good at creating lively, likeable characters that carry off her plots of murder and mayhem without a lot of gory, graphic details. The Voice of the Dolls is set in London, where a young woman named Sarah Stacey is hired as governess to look after Jennie Foster, a troubled eight-year-old who lives with her severely dysfunctional family. Sarah quickly finds something is terribly off with her new employer, Oliver Foster. After a suicide and a suspicious accident, Sarah doesn't know who to trust and turns to a mysterious uncle for help. Will Tim be her savior, or is he the one behind all the mayhem? In Listen to Danger, a young widow, Harriet Lacey, is left to support herself and raise her two children, but when the children are kidnapped, she turns to the unlikeliest of heroes, her neighbor Flynn, a blind man who may or may not have been the cause of her late husband's demise. I liked this story the most. I found the plot intricate but believable, and the characters endearing.… (more)
"It is spring of 1915. Spoiled twenty-one-year-old Clemency Jervis and her Fifth Avenue entourage board the Lusitania, bound for England, where Clemency is to marry the dashing Lord Hugo Hazzard of Loburn. A few miles off the Irish coast, the ship is torpedoed by the Germans. One of the few survivors is Clemency‰ÃƒÂ›Ã‚ªs maid, Hetty Brown, a young woman who resembles her mistress. Surprised to be taken for Clemency, Hetty carries out a daring deception that makes her a nobleman‰Ûªs wife and the mistress of a magnificent country estate, despite doubts about her among some in her aristocratic new set"
Is this plot summary from Amazon not awesome? Unfortunately, the actual book is not so much. Didn't hate it but it could have been so much better.
… (more)
Is this plot summary from Amazon not awesome? Unfortunately, the actual book is not so much. Didn't hate it but it could have been so much better.
… (more)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 69
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 2,279
- Popularity
- #11,257
- Rating
- 3.3
- Reviews
- 21
- ISBNs
- 396
- Languages
- 10
- Favorited
- 1
This book serves as a good moral lesson on the dangers of impulsive commitments, not because of the heroine’s sufferings, but because I picked it up on impulse from my library’s donation gimmie shelves. And oh boy, did I pay for it.
I read this book for Task the Second: The Silent Nights (Read a book set in one of the Nordic countries, where winter nights are long!) in the Twelve Tasks of the Festive Season challenge. Although it takes place across several countries, the bulk of the action is in Denmark, and in Otto’s home manor house castle on the island of Samsø, and is in the spring, where apparently, the days are very long instead of the long winter nights.
… (more)