English novelist, 1884-1969. Her first work, in 1925, was Pastors and Masters and was hailed as a work of genius. Her second novel, the semi-autobiographical Brothers and Sisters, was turned down by Leonard Woolf of Hogarth Press, who said she couldn't write.
In her books, conversations of utter savagery, jealousy, violent nuances take place underneath a facade of gentility. In her dialogue, characters condemn themselves every time they open their mouths, revealing the worst of human personality, the oppression of the weak by stronger personalities, and the control family members exercise over each other.
Her novels: Pastors and Masters, Brothers and Sisters, Men and Wives, More Women than Men, A House and Its Head, Daughters and Sons, A Family and a Fortune, Parents and Children, Elders and Betters, Manservant and Maidservant, Two Worlds and Their Ways, Darkness and Day, The Present and the Past, Mother and Son, A Father and His Fate, A Heritage and Its History, The Mighty and Their Fall, A God and His Gifts, The Last and the First.