Eliza Humphreys

Elizabeth Margaret Jane Humphreys Gollan (14 June 1850 – 1 January 1938) was a Scottish novelist from Inverness-shire who wrote 120 books, plays and essays, and founded the Writers’ Club for Women. Many of her works were published under the pseudonym Rita.

Biography Eliza Margaret Jane Gollan was born at Gollanfield in Inverness-shire, the daughter of John Gilbert Gollan, a Scottish businessman and his wife Jane Plumb, daughter of the manager of the Bank of Bengal. Her father travelled extensively, visiting India and Australia, and became a landowner in Scotland following his inheriting the family home at Gollanfield. This necessitated the family to move from India to Scotland to take ownership. Eliza Gollan was born on 14 June 1850 on the family estate as the second of three children.

Writing career

Under the penname 'Rita', Gollan produced a remarkable 120 books, plays and essays from 1877 onwards when she was still in her twenties. These started as 'light', 'daring' works of popular fiction, often featuring aristocratic characters in fashionable foreign settings.

Novels and short stories

Vivienne (1877) serialized as 'The Triumph of Love' (1914) Like Dian's Kiss (1878) Countess Daphne - A Musical Romance (1880) My Lady Coquette (1881) A Sinless Secret (1881) She is Woman, Therefore to be Won (short story) (1881) Faustine (1882) Dame Durden (1883) After Long Grief and Pain (1883) Two Bad Blue Eyes (1884) My Lord Conceit (1884) Fragoletta (1885) Corinna (1885) Gretchen (Published elsewhere as 'Adrian Lyle') (1887) The Seventh Dream (1888) Darby and Joan (1888) The Mystery of a Turkish Bath (1888) Miss Kate; or, Confessions of a Caretaker (1889) Sheba. A Study of Girlhood (1889) A Vagabond Lover (1889) The Doctor's Secret (1890) A Society Scandal (1890) The Laird o'Cockpen (1891) Brought Together. A volume of stories (1892) Asenath of the Ford (1892) The Fate of Fenella (1892) Ch. VII - "So Near -- So Far Away" The Countess Pharamond (1893), Sequel to Sheba The Man in Possession (1893) Naughty Mrs. Gordon. A romance of society (1894) A Husband of No Importance (1894) The Ending of My Day. The story of a stormy life. (1894) Peg the Rake (1894) Master Wilberforce. A study of a boy. (1895) A Woman in It. A sketch of feminine misadventure. (1895) A Gender in Satin (1895) Vignettes (1896) Kitty the Rag (1896) Joan and Mrs. Carr (1896) Good Mrs Hypocrite (1897) The Sinner, serialized as The Grinding Mills of God (1897) Stephen Wynthorpe's Presentiment (short story) (1897) Adrienne: A Romance of French Life (1898) Petticoat Loose, serialized as A Daughter of the People (1898) The Voice on the Stairs (short story) (1898) An Old Rogue's Tragedy (1899) Vanity. The confessions of a Court modiste (1900) A Woman of Samaria, serialized as The Mystery of the Dark House (1900) The Bohemians (short story) (1900) Prince Charming. A fantastic episode in court dress (1901) The Sin of Jasper Standish (1901) The Ending of my Day (1901) A Jilt's Journal (1901) The Spell of The Yarrow (short story) 1901) The Lie Circumspect (1902), serialized as A Craven Heart (1902) Prince Charming, etc. (1903) Souls. A Comedy of Intentions (1903) The Valley of Desolation (short story) (1903) The Jesters (1904) The Silent Woman (1904) serialized as The Mystery of the 'Headless Woman' Inn (1904) The Sin and Scandal of the 'Smart' Set (1904) Vanity! (1904) The Masqueraders (1904) Valley of Desolation (short story) (1904) Queer Lady Judas (1905) The Baths of Salwych (short story) (1905) Saba Macdonald (1906) Personal Opinions Publicly Expressed (1907) A Man of no Importance (1907) The Pointing Finger (1907) The Millionaire Girl and other stories (1908) comprising: The Millionaire Girl The Other Woman The Boots at No. 40 The Passing of Miss Flint The Crank Riviera studies: The brave Mariana, The Tremblement at Bussana, The Haunted Bedroom, The Sealed Door The treacherous mountain The valley of desolation A Test of Endurance Betty Brent, Typist (1908) Calvary. A tragedy of sects. (1909) That is to say--. [Tales.] (1909) The Faithful Billium (short story) (1909) The Story of a Soul (short story) (1910) America-through English eyes (1911) Only an Actress (1911) Half a Truth (1911) Grim Justice. The study of a conscience. (1912) Edelweiss (1912) Two Detrimentals (short story) (1912) The Mystic and The Colonel (short story) (1912) The House Opposite (1913) A Grey Life. A romance of modern Bath. (1913) The Young Horatius (1914) The Simpleton (short story) (1914) The Ink-Slinger (1915) Unmasking the Hun - What the War has Revealed (Short article) (1916) The Wrong End of Religion (1917) The Rubbish Heap (1917) Diana of the Ephesians: A Novel. (1919) The Philanthropic Burglar (1919) The Make-believers (1920) When the Wicked Man, and other stories. (1920) The Iron Stair. A romance of Dartmoor. (1921) The Best Lover [and other tales]. (1921) Pat the Pedlar (1922) The Road to Anywhere (1922) Conjugal Rights, and other stories. (1922) The Man Who Understood (1923) The Ungrown-Ups. (1923) Episodes. By Rita. Originally published as by E. Jayne Gilbert. (1925) The Farm of Melchizedek (1925) The Great “Perhaps.” (1926) Our Miss Acadee (1926) The Grandmothers (1927) The Prince Errant, and other stories. (1928) The Wand'ring Darling (1928) Jean and Jeannette (1929) Quarrelsome Corner (1930) The New Poor. A romance of to-day. (1931) The Naughty Grandfather (1932) Six Mistresses, etc. (1932) The Ladies of Moyallo (1933) The Pointing Finger (1934) The Marriage Comedy (1934) Recollections of a literary life (1936)