Biography
British novelist Lizzie Allen Harker was born Lizzie Watson in Gloucester, England, in 1863. She was educated at Cheltenham Ladies College, and later married James Allen Harker, a professor at the Royal Agricultural University at Cirencester, where she remained until her death. She began her writing career with short stories, which were published in a variety of magazines, including "Outlook", and had her first novel published in 1902. She didn't achieve real success, however, until 1908, with "Miss Esperance and Mr. Wycherley", which became a hit in both Britain and the US and spawned a sequel, "Mr. Wycherley's Wards", in 1912. Critics praised her "insight into the ways of children and old people", as noted by the "London Times". Her play, "Marigold: An Arcadian Comedy", written with F.R. Pryor, ran in London for 18 months from 1927-28, was revived there in 1930 and then taken across the Atlantic for runs in Canada and the US (it was even made into two films). She and Pryor also wrote another play, "His Proper Pride", which was performed in Birmingham, England, by the repertory company of noted British writer John Drinkwater. She died, at 70 years of age, in 1933 at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, England.
