Author·Not on Booklabria yet

Mabel Esther Allan

Book data and covers from Open Library (openlibrary.org). See this author on Open Library(opens openlibrary.org)

Mabel Esther Allan was a British author of about 170 children's books. She was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, England, on February 11, 1915, to James Pemberton Allan, a merchant, and his wife, Priscilla Hagon Allan. Educated at disappointing dame schools, Miss Allan took no interest in her lessons but enjoyed only reading in the library and composing short stories and novels. From the age of eight, she intended to become an author. After completing her education in 1932, Miss Allan taught folk dancing classes for the English Folk Dance and Song Society while submitting stories and novels for publication. She failed to publish any adult pieces, but found unexpected success at selling short stories for children. She sold her first book for publication, Grim Glen Castle, in 1939, but it was not published because of the outbreak of war. During World War II, Miss Allan served as a farm worker in the Women's Land Army, a teacher in a preparatory school, and a nursery warden for the children of factory workers. Miss Allan submitted Grim Glen Castle to another publisher in the spring of 1945. It was published in 1948 as The Glen Castle Mystery. Deciding to commit herself to writing for children, she wrote her second published novel, The Adventurous Summer, in the autumn of 1945. Over the subsequent twenty-five years, Miss Allan produced an abundant number of novels. She wrote adventures, mysteries, and romances for older girls, all following conventional attitudes and subject matters. The only exception to her conformity appeared in her school stories, which embraced progressive educational tenets like coeducation, student self-discipline, and schoolchildren's participation in running their schools. Miss Allan also sold about 330 short stories between 1936 and 1957. She first traveled abroad in 1948, beginning a practice that contributed heavily to her writing by providing new settings and experiences to use in her novels. In addition to various Continental local