Naomi Royde-Smith
Naomi Royde-Smith was a Welsh author and literary figure born in 1875 in Lanwrst, Wales. The eldest daughter in her family, she moved to London with her parents, where she completed her education at a finishing school in Switzerland. Royde-Smith began her writing career by adapting Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene into prose stories for children. After a lengthy pause in publishing, she worked as a literary editor for the Westminster Gazette, where she mingled with notable contemporary writers. In the 1920s, her home became a hub for avant-garde literary discussions, which inspired her to write fiction.
Her notable works include the comic novel The Tortoiseshell Cat, which explores themes of family and includes a lesbian subplot, and The Housemaid, which delves into the dynamics of compatibility among differing social classes. Royde-Smith is recognized for her psychological realism, particularly in plays like A Balcony and her biography of actress Sarah Siddons. While her work did not achieve widespread international acclaim, she is appreciated for her insightful portrayals of women's experiences in early 20th-century Britain and her candid treatment of issues such as gender inequity and social class oppression.
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Naomi Royde-Smith
Writer
- Born: 1875
- Birthplace: Llanwrst, Wales
- Died: July 28, 1964
Biography
Naomi Royde-Smith was born in Lanwrst, Wales, in 1875, the eldest child of Michael Holroyd Smith and Ann Daisy Williams. Her parents moved to London in time for their daughter to enroll at Chapman High School, and the aspiring writer’s education was completed at a finishing school in Geneva, Switzerland.
An enterprising Royde-Smith adapted Edmund Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queene (1590-1596) as a series of prose stories for young readers, Una and the Red Cross Knight, and Other Tales from Spenser’s Faery Queene. Two decades would pass between the publication of this book and the author’s second book. During this period, she found employment with the Westminster Gazette, a London newspaper. Her advancement to literary editor in 1912 led to her acquaintance with writers Wyndham Lewis and Katherine Mansfield. In the early 1920’s, Royde-Smith’s parlor became a gathering place for avant-garde writers whose discussions about literature inspired her to write fiction. In 1923, she found employment as an independent critic and dedicated more time to her own writing. One consequence of reviewing stage plays was that Royde-Smith met Ernest Milton, an actor; the two married in 1926.
Royde-Smith’s transition from critic to author was swift. The 1925 publication of The Tortoiseshell Cat: A Novel, a comic novel about two sisters that contained a lesbian subplot, received positive critical appraisal. A year later, The Housemaid: A Novel in Three Parts was published. The novel was about the domestic adventures of two mismatched couples and explored issues of compatibility between people of different genders and social classes. Following the success of these early works, Royde-Smith published many more novels as well as plays and biographies. Critics consider her most distinguished work to be The Lover, a novella about aging artists who were once lovers. As in the case of her adaptation of Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, she continued to find inspiration for contemporary stories in the classics of British literature; for example, Jane Fairfax: A New Novel is a sequel to Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
Chief among her plays is A Balcony: A Play in Three Acts, which featured Royde-Smith’s husband in the lead male role. Employing psychological realism, the drama reveals the damage created by suspicions of adultery in a young marriage and explores the rather taboo topic of suicide. Mrs. Siddons: A Play in Four Acts presented the life of famed nineteenth century stage actress, Sarah Siddons. The material was rewritten for publication as a biography, appearing in 1933 under the title The Private Life of Mrs. Siddons: A Psychological Investigation.
Though her writing never garnered an international following or received any significant awards, Royde-Smith continues to have loyal readers. Scholars note Royde-Smith’s in-depth portrayals of women’s lives in Great Britain in the 1920’s and 1930’s as her chief literary contribution. The candor with which she explores subjects like sexual preference, social class oppression, and gender inequity has also received critical commendation.