Syrett, Netta
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
Working name of UK author Janet Syrett (1865-1943), whose fantasy tales, usually for younger children, are of little contemporary interest, a novel like The Castle of Four Towers (1909) for instance explaining its Timeslip structure as a dream [for fuller entry on Syrett see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below]. In her earlier career, however, as the niece of Grant Allen and friend of Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898), she wrote for The Yellow Book and was recognized (and reviled) for Feminist impulses. Two of her later tales are of some sf interest: both The House That Was (1933) and The Farm on the Downs (1936) make some use of the time theories of J W Dunne to buttress shifts in time and place, though within a fantasy frame; but neither novel is strong on argument. [JC]
Janet Syrett
born Landsgate, Kent: 17 March 1865
died London: 15 December 1943
works (highly selected)
- The Castle of Four Towers (London: Duckworth and Company, 1909) [illus D Andrewes and Stephen Reid: hb/Stephen Reid]
- The House That Was (London: Rich and Cowan, 1933) [hb/Lance Cattermole]
- The Farm on the Downs (London: Geoffrey Bles, 1936) [hb/Nick]
links
previous versions of this entry