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Helen de Guerry Simpson

ヘレン・ド・ゲリー・シンプソン

Helen de Guerry Simpson

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1897-12-01 (Sydney, Australia)
Died
1940-10-14 (Worcestershire, England) age 42
Nationality
Australian
Languages
English
Residence History
Sydney, Australia → Oxford, England → London, England

Career

Occupations
novelist, politician
Active Years
1921-1940
Affiliations
Detection Club, Liberal Party (UK)
Memberships
Detection Club

Education

Convent of the Sacred Heart, Rose Bay
General Education
Period: 幼少期
Country: Australia
Now Kincoppal-Rose Bay, School of the Sacred Heart
Abbotsleigh
General Education
Period: 幼少期
Country: Australia
University of Oxford
French / Literature
Period: 1916-1917
Country: UK
Studied but no degree
University of Oxford
Music
Period: 1919-1921
Country: UK
Sent down without degree

Awards

James Tait Black Memorial Prize
1932
Work: Boomerang
Category: 小説部門
Organization: University of Edinburgh
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Boomerang

1932 Historical novel

Plot begins in Paris at the end of the eighteenth century, wanders all over the world including Australia, ends in WWI trenches.

HistoryWarFate

Under Capricorn

1937 Historical novel

Set in Sydney 100 years earlier. Filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1949.

Colonial eraSecretsLove
Adaptations
  • [Film] Under Capricorn / Alfred Hitchcock (1949)

Saraband for Dead Lovers

1935 Historical novel

Historical novel, filmed in 1948.

HistoryRomanceTragedy
Adaptations
  • [Film] Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948)

Bibliography

  • Acquittal (1925)
  • Cups, Wands and Swords (1927)
  • Enter Sir John (1929, with Clemence Dane)
  • The Desolate House (1929)
  • Printer's Devil (1930, with Clemence Dane)
  • Vantage Striker (1931)
  • Boomerang (1932)
  • Re-enter Sir John (1932, with Clemence Dane)
  • The Woman on the Beast (1933)
  • Saraband for Dead Lovers (1935)
  • Under Capricorn (1937)
  • Maid No More (1940)

Translations by Author

  • The Waiting City (1933, tr. Louis-Sébastien Mercier)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Polished proseRich historical detail
Recurring Motifs
Historical eventsFemale perspectiveIrony of fate

Health

  • Cancer
    1940年
    Died after surgery and months of suffering

Legacy

Australian novelist who won James Tait Black Prize. Involved in Hitchcock films.

In Popular Culture

  • Contributed to Hitchcock films like Murder! and Under Capricorn

Trivia

  • Member of Detection Club
  • Prospective Liberal candidate for Isle of Wight
  • Married to pediatric surgeon Denis Browne