''She Fell Among Thieves'' is a 1935 adventure novel by the English author

Dornford Yates Cecil William Mercer (7 August 1885 – 5 March 1960), known by his pen name Dornford Yates, was an English writer and novelist whose novels and short stories, some humorous (the ''Berry'' books), some thrillers (the ''Chandos'' books), were be ...

(Cecil William Mercer), the fifth in his ' Chandos' thriller series. It was serialised in ''

Woman's Journal ''Woman's Journal'' was an American women's rights periodical published from 1870 to 1931. It was founded in 1870 in Boston, Massachusetts, by Lucy Stone and her husband Henry Browne Blackwell as a weekly newspaper. In 1917 it was purchased by ...

'' (December 1934 to April 1935, illustrated by Forster). The title comes from a phrase in the

Parable of the Good Samaritan The parable of the Good Samaritan is told by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. It is about a traveler (implicitly understood to be Jewish) who is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the road. First, a Jewish priest and then ...

Plot

The story is set in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

. Chandos, recently widowed, and Mansel have to rescue a drugged young woman who has been held captive at Château Jezreel by the villainous elderly matriarch Vanity Fair.

Background

''She Fell Among Thieves'' was written shortly after Mercer's second marriage, to Elizabeth, and was dedicated "To Jill" – the name he always used for her.

Critical reception

The novel was not quite as well received as the earlier 'Chandos' books had been. Although it was accepted for UK serialisation in the ''

'', appearing in five parts between December 1934 and April 1935, the US '' Saturday Evening Post'' declined it, female villains not being to American taste.

Dramatisation

* In 1978 the BBC produced a

TV film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

based on the novel * On 15 May 2004

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

broadcast a ''Saturday Play'' based on the book, dramatised by Michelene Wandor and directed by Chris Wallis, with

Honor Blackman Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in '' The Avengers''Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 58. (1962 ...

as Vanity Fair, Nicholas Boulton as Chandos, Tim Frances as Mansel, Jessica Lloyd as Virginia, David Thorpe as Gaston, Robert Whelan as Acorn, Jane Collingwood as Jenny and Harry Myers as Bell.

References

Bibliography

* 1935 British novels Hodder & Stoughton books Novels by Dornford Yates British thriller novels {{1930s-thriller-novel-stub