Biography
Dorothy L. Sayers was an English crime writer, one of the most popular writers of the so-called Golden Age of Detective Fiction (1920s-1930s). She was known as one of the four Queens of Crime, alongside her fellow novelists Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, and Ngaio Marsh. Sayers' most popular character was Lord Peter Wimsey, an aristocratic gentleman detective who viewed mystery solving as an amusing hobby. Sayers wrote 11 Wimsey novels and several short stories featuring Wimsey and his family. In addition to her crime fiction works, Sayers wrote plays, works of literary criticism, and essays on various topics. She also translated works by other writers into English. Her English translation of the "Divine Comedy" is considered her most notable work in that field.
In 1893, Sayers was born in Oxford. Her father was the Reverend Henry Sayers, chaplain of the Christ Church Cathedral. Henry also served for some time as the headmaster of the Christ Church Cathedral School. Sayers' mother was Helen Mary Leigh, daughter of a prominent solicitor. Helen was a member of the extended Leigh family, landed gentry from the Isle of Wight.
Sayers was primarily raised in the tiny village of Bluntisham, after her father was appointed as the rector of the local church. In 1909, she started attending the Godolphin School as a full-time student. It was a boarding school for girls, located in Salisbury. The school was named after its founder, Elizabeth Godolphin (c. 1663 --1726), and was originally devoted to the education of orphan girls from prosperous families.
In 1912, Sayers won a scholarship that allowed her to attend Somerville College, in Oxford. She studied both modern languages and medieval literature at the college. Her most prominent teacher was Mildred K. Pope (1872 - 1956), a historian specializing in Anglo-Norman England. Sayers graduated with first-class honors in 1915, but did not actually receive her Master of Arts degree until 1920. Sayers was among the first female students to receive degrees from the University of Oxford. Women were previously allowed to attend Oxford, but there was a college policy against granting them degrees.
Sayers started her literary career as a poet, publishing her first volume of poems in 1916. Her poems were regularly published at "The Oxford Magazine" (1883-) , a literary magazine associated with Oxford University. Sayers initially supported herself financially by working as a teacher. In the early 1920s, she started working for the publishing company Victor Gollancz. From 1922 to 1931, Sayers worked as a copywriter and advertiser for the advertising agency S.H. Benson. She is credited with creating successful advertising campaigns for Colman's mustard and Guinness beer.
Sayers started work on her first crime novel in 1920, but did not complete it until 1923. The novel was "Whose Body?" (1923), the debut novel for Peter Wimsey. The novel begins with the discovery of an unidentified man's corpse in the bathroom of a private apartment, whose owner had never met the dead man. The dead man was a look-alike of a famous financier who had mysteriously disappeared the previous night. Wimsey has to discover what connected the two men, and what happened to them. The novel was met with praise for its plot twists, and established Sayers' reputation as a novelist.
Sayers published the rest of the Wimsey novels between 1926 and 1937. She eventually lost interest in writing crime novels, ending her career as a novelist in 1939. She reportedly found it pointless to write murder mysteries at a time when real-life mass murders were monopolizing the news. She briefly re-used Wimsey and his supporting cast in ""The Wimsey Papers" (1939-1940), a series of magazine articles commenting on wartime conditions in Britain.
During the early phases of World War II, Sayers published the theology book "The Mind of the Maker" (1941). Its primary topic was the nature of the Trinity, and its connection to the creative process in art. She explored the central doctrines of Christianity in several other theological works. In 1943, she was offered a doctorate in divinity by the then-Archbishop of Canterbury. She declined the offer, as she did not view herself as a professional theologian.
Sayers published non-fiction works on various topics throughout the 1940s and the 1950s. Sayers died in December 1957, due to coronary thrombosis (a heart disease). She was 64-years-old at the time of her death. Her remains were cremated and her ashes buried beneath the tower of St Anne's Church, Soho, London. The sole beneficiary of her will was her illegitimate son, John Anthony Fleming.
Sayer's reputation as a theologian has endured into the 21st century. In 2022, Sayers was officially added to the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day on 17 December. Her novels remain popular, and have received a number of adaptations for television and radio.
