. Marie Corelli : the writer and the woman. town. This wasin 1890, when only four of her books had beenpubHshed. Her wishes in this respect, however, she sub-ordinated to those of her stepbrother, who pre-ferred London; but from that time she alwayscherished the memory of Stratford-on-Avon, andhoped she would be able to return thither. Finally,in 1898, when Eric Mackays death deprived her ofher last remaining link with her childhood, saveher ever-faithful friend Miss Vyver, and when shewas extremely ill from the effects of long sickness,followed by the nervous shock of Erics sudden end,she tur
. Marie Corelli : the writer and the woman. town. This wasin 1890, when only four of her books had beenpubHshed. Her wishes in this respect, however, she sub-ordinated to those of her stepbrother, who pre-ferred London; but from that time she alwayscherished the memory of Stratford-on-Avon, andhoped she would be able to return thither. Finally,in 1898, when Eric Mackays death deprived her ofher last remaining link with her childhood, saveher ever-faithful friend Miss Vyver, and when shewas extremely ill from the effects of long sickness,followed by the nervous shock of Erics sudden end,she turned her thoughts to the old town again, anddecided to take a furnished house there, to see if theplace agreed with her health. She rented ** HallsCroft for a few months, then Avon Croft(where the Master-Christian and Boy werefinished), and, finding that the soft, mild air didwonders for her, and gradually reestablished herstrength, she decided to remain. The only house available in the town for apermanency was Mason Croft, a very old place. The Elizabethan Watch Tower, Mason Croft At Stratford-on-Avon 337 in a sad state^ of disrepair, its last restorationbearing the date of 1745, but, as it was all there wasto be had, she risked taking it on trial. Graduallyimproving and restoring it, she has now broughtit back to look something like it must have beenin the fifteenth century, when it was quite an im-portant house, requiring a *watch-tower, whereina watchman was set to guard the property, andwhich still stands in the garden, having beentransformed into a cozy summer study for thenovelist. Every month sees some new additionto the charming oak-panelled rooms, which areessentially home-like, and Miss Corellis love offlowers, which amounts to a passion, shows itselfin the mass of blossom which in winter, equallyas in the summer, adorns her winter-garden,leading out from the drawing-room. She is very fond of the home she has made, andfond of the town in which it stands, and her reaso
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidmariecorelli, bookyear1903
