Bessie Marchant

Bessie Marchant (1862–1941) was a prolific English writer of adventure novels featuring young female heroines. She published most of her work under the name Bessie Marchant, but occasionally published as Bessie Marchant Comfort or Mrs J.A. Comfort. And a few books for boys, published under the name John Comfort are attributed to her.

Life Marchant was born at Debden Court Farm, Petham. She was married at age 27 to Jabez Ambrose Comfort, a Baptist minister 28 years her senior. Her daughter Constance was born in 1891 in Hitchin where her husband had a school.

Despite never leaving England herself, she wrote close to 150 novels set in locations around the world. Her earliest novels, such as Broken Barriers and Under Clear Skies were simple romances set in an evangelical Christian context, usually Primitive Methodism, and located in England. Some of her novels were serialized in illustrated magazines such as Sunday Reading for the Young, and some were published in combination books such as The Bessie Marchant Omnibus Book, which contains three novels: The Gold-Marked Charm, Sally Makes Good, and Three Girls in Mexico. She later wrote many novels in the style of the Victorian adventure novel (even being called "the girls' Henty", a reference to G.A. Henty, the author of popular adventure stories for boys), but she challenged established gender roles by putting strong female characters in what was seen as a boys' genre.

The typical Bessie Marchant heroine may be reluctant, unsure of herself, homesick, and frightened, but she puts aside her feelings in an effort to do her duty and do the right thing. An example is a passage from The Adventures of Phyllis, where a young woman finds herself alone, looking after a delirious injured man. Besides, it was selfish to think of her own discomfort or possible danger when his condition was plainly so much worse than her own. All the latent heroism in her nature was rising now to meet the demand upon it. She would not let herself speculate on what her home people would say if they could see her now; she would not even think of what might befall her before she could extricate herself from this strange situation, but content herself with living just for the present hour, and doing her best to meet each need as it should arise.

Juliette the Mail Carrier, as published by Collins Clear Type Press. Early publications of Bessie Marchant novels typically have no dust jacket, but have an illustrative image printed directly on the cover and spine. This is especially true of those published by Blackie and by Collins.

Marchant died in 1941. In 2023 the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography included her in a group of new biographies of eleven Victorian and Edwardian writers who have caught the attention of academics.

Novels Listed here are some of the novels written by Bessie Marchant. Where these books are available in formats other than print, this is noted in the Available Formats column. The Publication Date is rarely included in the printed copies of Marchant's works; apparently this was common practice in books printed in the early 20th century. Where a publication date is shown, it was discovered through on-line references, such as entries in goodreads.com, so it cannot be guaranteed to be correct. However, because Bessie Marchant books were popular choices for prize-giving or birthday and Christmas presents, an inscription is often found with a date. This date is listed as the 'presentation date', and can be understood to indicate that the book was published prior to that date. Publication Date has been added based on the work of the website www.authorandbookinfo.com. The plot summaries shown below are based on reading the book referenced. TitleAvailable FormatsPublication DatePresentation DateLocationPlot SummaryAdventures of Phyllis, The - A Story of the Argentine19101913ARGENTINAWhen Phyllis's father loses all his money in speculation, the family disperses, and only Phyllis is left with no place to go. She answers an ad for a nursery governess in a remote country town, and when she arrives to take the job, she finds things much different from her expectations. Adventurous Seven, The: Their Hazardous Undertakinggutenberg.org Listed below are books attributed to Bessie Marchant published under the name John Comfort. +TitleAvailable FormatsPublication DatePresentation DateLocationPlot SummaryDon's Doings (A story of life in Western Canada)1929CANADAYoung Don is left on his own when his older brother does not come back from rounding up their cattle. He discovers that he can manage on his own, alone: he brings home someone else's herd of cattle that he runs into while looking for his own, he rescues a sick man and looks after him until he is well, and he locates the sick man's lost daughter. His many adventures convince him that he knows what he is doing, even though he is still young.Matt Desmond's Bit (The story of a brave boy who does his bit in the war)1920ENGLANDMatt Desmond's father is away at war, and he is at home from school, recovering from a serious illness. He does not like being idle, and is happy to get a chance to help the owner of a beach-side donkey ride business. This work leads to his discovery and capture of German spies.Nobby: A Son of Empire19131920CANADA ?Noble "Nobby" Brown is determined to find the money that was stolen from his father.On His Own (The adventures of a little English boy who went to Canada "on his own")1918CANADAYoung Tom Brown is traveling with his older brother, Thack, to make a new life in a remote small town in Canada. Tom and his brother are separated, and Tom travels alone and has to manage by himself. River Tramp, The (The story of a boy's adventures among the rubber camps of Upper Orinoco) 1913VENEZUELARoy hears talk that his father, whom he has always though was dead, is living far up river. Roy decides to try to find his father and experiences many trials during his search.Rustler's Revenge1931CANADA, SaskatchewanBert Fletcher and his friend Dick live on homestead ranches in Saskatchewan. Local cattle rangers, who resent the homesteaders, kill Dick's brother while trying to drive the homesteaders away, Bert becomes entangled in the problems caused by Dick's attempts to get revenge for his brother's death.Toby's Luck 1922SOUTH AFRICAToby's father has been under suspicion of having aided the criminals who stole gold bars from his workplace. Toby determines to discover the real thieves and to clear his father.