Mary Elizabeth Hawker

Mary Elizabeth Hawker (28 January 1848 – 16 June 1908) was a Scottish-born writer of short fiction. From 1890, she wrote under the pseudonym Lanoe Falconer.

Early years and education Mary Elizabeth Hawker was born on 29 January 1848 at Inveraray, Argyllshire, as the oldest daughter of Major Peter William Lanoe Hawker (1812–1857) of the 74th Highlanders, resident at Longparish House near Whitchurch, Hampshire, and Elizabeth Eraser. Her grandfather was Lieutenant Colonel Peter Hawker, author of Instructions to Young Sportsmen published in 1841.

Hawker's education was informal and mainly self-chosen, as she read many books. Her father died in 1857 and her mother remarried in 1862 to Herbert Fennell, with whom the daughter had a poor relationship. The story is a mystery about a heroine who is a governess in an English country house connected with Russian nihilists. The Saturday Review declared it to be "one of the finest short stories in England". Gladstone wrote and spoke in praise of the book. Its circulation was forbidden in Russia. She gave her royalties from it to help Russian exiles. Over 40,000 copies of the English editions were sold and an American edition was printed, as were translations into French, German, Dutch, and Italian.

Selected works Mademoiselle Ixe, 1890 Cecilia de Noël, 1891 The Hôtel d'Angleterre and other stories, 1891 Old Hampshire Vignettes, 1907 Her collected stories were published with an introduction by Peter Rowland in 2010.