Edith Joan Lyttleton (18 December 187310 March 1945) was an

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

n author, who wrote as G. B. Lancaster.

Life and career

Lyttleton was born on the family farm near

Campbell Town, Tasmania Campbell Town is a town in Tasmania, Australia, on the Midland Highway (Tasmania), Midland Highway. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 823. History Traditional owners of the Campbell Town area The traditional owners, traditio ...

, and brought up from 1879 in New Zealand on a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

Rakaia Rakaia is a town sited on the southern banks of the Rakaia River on the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island, approximately 57 km south of Christchurch on State Highway 1 and the Main South Line. Immediately north of the townsh ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. Between 1904 and 1943 she produced 13

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s, a collection of stories, two serialised novels and over 250 stories. She wrote initially under the name "Keron Hale", switching to "G B Lancaster" when her identity was revealed. She was

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

's most widely read writer of the first half of the twentieth century. She wrote about the formation of colonial identity and the legacy of

imperialism Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...

in the lives of settlers and their descendants. Her settings were

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

. She was influenced by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

and

R. L. Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

. Her first success was with ''The Law-Bringers'' (1913), which was made into a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

in the 1920s (as was ''The Altar Stairs''). ''

Pageant Pageant(s) or The Pageant(s) may refer to: Events * Procession or ceremony in elaborate costume * Beauty pageant, or beauty contest * List of pageants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints * Medieval pageant, a narrative medieval pro ...

'' (1933) topped the American best-seller list for six months. Other successes were ''Promenade'' (1938) and ''Grand Parade'' (1943). Lyttleton left New Zealand in 1909 for America, before settling in England. She died in a nursing home in London on 10 March 1945.

Awards and recognition

Lyttleton was awarded the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal for an outstanding literary work in the previous calendar year, for ''Pageant'' in 1933. Lyttleton Crescent, a street in the Canberra suburb of

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

, is named in her honour.

Novels

* ''Sons O' Man'' (1904) * ''The Spur to Smite'' (1905) * ''The Tracks We Tread'' (1907) * ''The Altar Stairs'' (1907) * ''Jim of the Ranges'' (1910) * ''The Honorable Peggy'' (1911) * ''The Law-Bringers'' (1913) * ''Food Divine'' (1917) * ''The Savignys'' (1918) * ''

'' (1933) * ''The World is Yours'' (1933) * ''Promenade'' (1938) * ''Grand Parade'' (1943)

Film adaptations

* '' Rider of the Law'' (1919) - original screenplay with H. Tipton Steck * ''

The Altar Stairs ''The Altar Stairs'' is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Lambert Hillyer and featuring Frank Mayo, Louise Lorraine, Lawrence Hughes and Boris Karloff in an early role. The screenplay was written by Doris Schroeder, George Hively a ...

'' (1922) - based on her novel of the same name * ''

The Eternal Struggle ''The Eternal Struggle'' is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by Reginald Barker. Distributed by Metro Pictures, the film is based on the 1913 novel ''The Law-Bringers'', written by Edith Joan Lyttleton. Plot The film focuses on Andr ...

'' (1923) - based on her novel ''The Law-Bringers'' * ''

The Little Irish Girl ''The Little Irish Girl'' is a 1926 American silent romantic drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros., directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Dolores Costello. Based on the story ''The Grifters'', written by Edith Joan Lyttleton, i ...

'' (1926) - based on her story "The Grifters" * ''

Bred in Old Kentucky ''Bred in Old Kentucky'' is a 1926 American silent film, silent sports film directed by Edward Dillon (actor), Edward Dillon and starring Viola Dana, Jerry Miley and Jed Prouty.Munden p.84 Cast * Viola Dana as Katie O'Doone * Jerry Miley as Den ...

'' (1926) - original screenplay with Louis WeadockIMDB - Bred in Old Kentucky
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References

External links