Howard Sturgis

Howard Overing Sturgis (January 30, 1855 – February 7, 1920) was an English-language novelist who wrote about same-sex love. Of American parentage, he lived and worked in Britain.

Early life "Howdie," as he was known to his intimates, was born in London on 30 January 1855 into an affluent New England American family. His father, Russell Sturgis, was a China trader and lawyer who later became head of Barings Bank in London. His mother was Russell's third wife, Julia Overing (née Boit) Sturgis. Among his siblings were brothers Julian (who also became a novelist) and Henry (who became MP for South Dorset) and sister Mary (wife of Bertram Falle, 1st Baron Portsea). From his father's earlier marriage, he had an elder half-brother, John Hubbard Sturgis, who was a noted Boston architect.

He was described as "a delicate child, closely attached to his mother, and fond of such girlish hobbies as needlepoint and knitting, which he continued to practice throughout his life." He became a friend of the novelists Henry James and Edith Wharton.

Career Henry James, Edith Wharton and Howard Sturgis on the veranda at The Mount. Sturgis's first novel, Tim: A Story of School Life (1891), was published anonymously and was dedicated to the "love that surpasses the love of women." It describes the love of two youths at boarding-school and was "based on his unhappy days at Eton." Although Edith Wharton praised it, Henry James found it unsatisfactory, and let Sturgis know in several letters. Afterwards Sturgis went on to publish only one short story (1908), about a lesser writer driven suicidal by the criticism of a greater, and a memorial on his friend, Anne Thackeray.

Personal life After the death of his mother in 1888, he bought a country house named Queen's Acre ("Qu’acre"), near Windsor Great Park and moved there with his lover, William Haynes-Smith (1871–1937), known to all as "the Babe." at Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. Both were in their 50s when they married.

Legacy After his death appreciations of him were published by A. C. Benson (1924), Edith Wharton (1934), E. M. Forster (1936) and George Santayana (1944), his cousin. His great-nephew is the journalist and novelist Henry Porter.

Works Tim: A Story of School Life (1891) [Anonymously published] All That Was Possible (1895) Belchamber (1904) 'On the Pottlecombe Cornice', in Fortnightly Review (1908) [short story]