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Ethel May Dell (1881-1939) was a British writer of popular romance novels who produced about thirty novels and several volumes of short stories. Her stories are often full of passion and love and are set in India and other British colonial possessions. She worked on her first novel, The Way of an Eagle, for several years, until it was finally published in 1911. The public loved it and the book was hugely popular. Her other works include the bestselling Greatheart (1912), The Bars of Iron (1916) and Hundredth Chance (1917). When published in 1912, Greatheart proved enormously popular and its popularity grew over the following years. According to the New York Times it was the bestselling novel in the United States in 1918.
- GenresRomance
216 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1925
About the author
Ethel M. Dell
149 books13 followersEthel M. Dell (2 August 1881 – 19 September 1939) was a British writer of over 30 popular romance novels and several short stories from 1911 to 1939.
Ethel May Dell was born on 2 August 1881 in Streatham, a suburb of London, England. Her father was a clerk in the City of London and she had an older sister and brother. Her family was middle class and lived a comfortable life. Ethel Dell was a very shy, quiet girl and was content to be dominated by her family. She began to write stories while very young and many of them were published in popular magazines. Beneath her shy exterior, she had a passionate heart and most of her stories were stories of passion and love set in India and other old British colonial possessions. They were considered to be very racy and her cousins would pull out pencils to try and count up the number of times she used the words: passion, tremble, pant and thrill. Pictures of her are very rare and she was never interviewed by the press.
Ethel Dell worked on a novel for several years, but it was rejected by eight publishers. Finally the publisher T. Fisher Unwin bought the book for their First Novel Library, a series which introduced a writer's first book. This book, entitled The Way of an Eagle, was published in 1911 and by 1915 it had gone through thirty printings.
Her debut novel is very characteristic of Ethel M. Dell's novels. There is a very feminine woman, an alpha male, a setting in India, passion galore liberally mixed with some surprisingly shocking violence and religious sentiments sprinkled throughout.
While readers adored Ethel M. Dell's novels, critics hated them with a passion; but she did not care what the critics thought. She considered herself a good storyteller – nothing more and nothing less. Ethel M. Dell continued to write novels for a number of years. She made quite a lot of money, from £20,000 to £30,000 a year, but remained quiet and almost pathologically shy.
In 1922, Ethel Dell married a soldier, Lieutenant-Colonel Gerald Tahourdin Savage, when she was forty years old, and the marriage was happy. Colonel Savage resigned his commission on his marriage and Ethel Dell became the support of the family. Her husband devoted himself to her and fiercely guarded her privacy. For her part she went on writing, eventually producing about thirty novels and several volumes of short stories. Ethel's married name is recorded as Ethel Mary Savage.
Ethel M. Dell died of cancer on 19 September 1939, at 58.
(from Wikipedia)
Ethel May Dell was born on 2 August 1881 in Streatham, a suburb of London, England. Her father was a clerk in the City of London and she had an older sister and brother. Her family was middle class and lived a comfortable life. Ethel Dell was a very shy, quiet girl and was content to be dominated by her family. She began to write stories while very young and many of them were published in popular magazines. Beneath her shy exterior, she had a passionate heart and most of her stories were stories of passion and love set in India and other old British colonial possessions. They were considered to be very racy and her cousins would pull out pencils to try and count up the number of times she used the words: passion, tremble, pant and thrill. Pictures of her are very rare and she was never interviewed by the press.
Ethel Dell worked on a novel for several years, but it was rejected by eight publishers. Finally the publisher T. Fisher Unwin bought the book for their First Novel Library, a series which introduced a writer's first book. This book, entitled The Way of an Eagle, was published in 1911 and by 1915 it had gone through thirty printings.
Her debut novel is very characteristic of Ethel M. Dell's novels. There is a very feminine woman, an alpha male, a setting in India, passion galore liberally mixed with some surprisingly shocking violence and religious sentiments sprinkled throughout.
While readers adored Ethel M. Dell's novels, critics hated them with a passion; but she did not care what the critics thought. She considered herself a good storyteller – nothing more and nothing less. Ethel M. Dell continued to write novels for a number of years. She made quite a lot of money, from £20,000 to £30,000 a year, but remained quiet and almost pathologically shy.
In 1922, Ethel Dell married a soldier, Lieutenant-Colonel Gerald Tahourdin Savage, when she was forty years old, and the marriage was happy. Colonel Savage resigned his commission on his marriage and Ethel Dell became the support of the family. Her husband devoted himself to her and fiercely guarded her privacy. For her part she went on writing, eventually producing about thirty novels and several volumes of short stories. Ethel's married name is recorded as Ethel Mary Savage.
Ethel M. Dell died of cancer on 19 September 1939, at 58.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 9, 2022
Ladies and Gentlemen: Ethel M. Dell in full glory.
If you have read at least two novels by Dell, you know what you can expect from her.
--> Alpha hero, alpha hero and alpha hero ;-) You can say the testosterone is always in the air. Dell's alpha heroes aren't like in modern romances or in historical fiction taking place in middle-ages. But they are so manly that you either like it (taking it lightly) or hate it (if you take it too serious).
--> There is always someone who smokes. E.g. here, I had the feeling that either Saltash, Toby, Bunny or Jake was smoking. It would be hard to find a chapter where nobody smoked in.
--> I don't know another writer, whose heroines cry so often (or sob).
--> They seem to not have normal, every day problems at all. More like rich people problems with bore and emotions.
So, on the one hand you have a domineering hero and a sobbing heroine sitting in the castle in a room full of smoke ;-) Yes, it doesn't sound good. But I always take it lightly and I treat it as Dell's style, her convention.
On the other hand, there is always (at least I see it always) the second level. Here I have found interesting view of family life, the relationship between spouses and between the father and the child. Besides, just read a few quotes:
As you can see, it is hard to call Ethel M. Dell a bad writer. She was definitely an original, one of the kind. I really like her stories. If they had been a little differently written, I would have liked them more. They would have been perfect romances. As they are, I adore them also but a bit less ;-)
P.S. Dell was twenty years older than Georgette Heyer and she started publishing ten years earlier than Heyer. From Georgette Heyer's biography I know that Heyer read Dell novels. "Charles Rex" was published in 1922, and Heyer's These Old Shades in 1926. So, I assume that it was Heyer who was inspired by Dell's story, not the other way around. I am writing it, because there was a big similarity between these two stories. M.C. even thinks that It's the exact same book, only set in another time, with minor differences in plot. I wouldn't say it, but still, it was very alike.
One more thing, "Charles Rex" is a sequel of The Hundredth Chance. I hadn't known it when I started it, then I was too much gripped to let it down and pick "The Hundredth Chance". Nonetheless, I think I will enjoy more "The Hundredth Chance" now, after reading "Charles Rex". Or at least, I don't think I will enjoy it less.
And if you are interested, here are links to reviews of other Dell's books I have read as for now (in order of reading by me.):
The Way of an Eagle
The Keeper of the Door
The Knave of Diamonds
A very short description of "Charles Rex" (for those who didn't read "These Old Shades"):
A girl who is hiding like a boy. A man, twice as old as her, who helps her. He is trying to marry her with a nice young boy. She adores him, treating him (this man) like a king and she does all he commands. Plus a mystery in the background.
If you have read at least two novels by Dell, you know what you can expect from her.
--> Alpha hero, alpha hero and alpha hero ;-) You can say the testosterone is always in the air. Dell's alpha heroes aren't like in modern romances or in historical fiction taking place in middle-ages. But they are so manly that you either like it (taking it lightly) or hate it (if you take it too serious).
he laughed oddly as he did it, as a man laughs who covers some hidden hurt
--> There is always someone who smokes. E.g. here, I had the feeling that either Saltash, Toby, Bunny or Jake was smoking. It would be hard to find a chapter where nobody smoked in.
--> I don't know another writer, whose heroines cry so often (or sob).
--> They seem to not have normal, every day problems at all. More like rich people problems with bore and emotions.
So, on the one hand you have a domineering hero and a sobbing heroine sitting in the castle in a room full of smoke ;-) Yes, it doesn't sound good. But I always take it lightly and I treat it as Dell's style, her convention.
On the other hand, there is always (at least I see it always) the second level. Here I have found interesting view of family life, the relationship between spouses and between the father and the child. Besides, just read a few quotes:
People's ways are all so different. It's rather infernal—trying to please everybody
Only wondering if you are wanting the right thing—wondering if the thing you call your heart's desire will bring you happiness. It—it doesn't always, you know, Bunny. Life is like that
Isn't it possible—sometime—to try to know too much? There is such a thing as looking too closely, mon ami. And then we pay the price.
The gods have sent you a gift, and because you don't know what it is made of, you are going to pull it to pieces to find out. And presently you will fling it away because you cannot fit it together again
As you can see, it is hard to call Ethel M. Dell a bad writer. She was definitely an original, one of the kind. I really like her stories. If they had been a little differently written, I would have liked them more. They would have been perfect romances. As they are, I adore them also but a bit less ;-)
P.S. Dell was twenty years older than Georgette Heyer and she started publishing ten years earlier than Heyer. From Georgette Heyer's biography I know that Heyer read Dell novels. "Charles Rex" was published in 1922, and Heyer's These Old Shades in 1926. So, I assume that it was Heyer who was inspired by Dell's story, not the other way around. I am writing it, because there was a big similarity between these two stories. M.C. even thinks that It's the exact same book, only set in another time, with minor differences in plot. I wouldn't say it, but still, it was very alike.
One more thing, "Charles Rex" is a sequel of The Hundredth Chance. I hadn't known it when I started it, then I was too much gripped to let it down and pick "The Hundredth Chance". Nonetheless, I think I will enjoy more "The Hundredth Chance" now, after reading "Charles Rex". Or at least, I don't think I will enjoy it less.
And if you are interested, here are links to reviews of other Dell's books I have read as for now (in order of reading by me.):
The Way of an Eagle
The Keeper of the Door
The Knave of Diamonds
A very short description of "Charles Rex" (for those who didn't read "These Old Shades"):
A girl who is hiding like a boy. A man, twice as old as her, who helps her. He is trying to marry her with a nice young boy. She adores him, treating him (this man) like a king and she does all he commands. Plus a mystery in the background.
November 12, 2022
Dell wrote with such flare and flamboyance. This is my second Dell novel, but I can see that she loved drama.
The characterisations are old fashioned but I still think Charles is such STUD! It’s true, reformed rakes make the best husbands. I just wish Tony cried a bit less and both of them communicated a bit more clearly.
It’s true that Heyer was a better writer and ‘These Old Shades’ is completely magnificent, but Dell was still special in her own way way.
4.25 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
The characterisations are old fashioned but I still think Charles is such STUD! It’s true, reformed rakes make the best husbands. I just wish Tony cried a bit less and both of them communicated a bit more clearly.
It’s true that Heyer was a better writer and ‘These Old Shades’ is completely magnificent, but Dell was still special in her own way way.
4.25 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
April 10, 2016
This was splendiferous!!!
It reminded me a bit of Ethel M. Dell's short story Rosa Mundi, and a bit of Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades, both of which I loved, but this mixes the two and gives both a new feel and I loved it!!!
Real review to come soon...
It reminded me a bit of Ethel M. Dell's short story Rosa Mundi, and a bit of Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades, both of which I loved, but this mixes the two and gives both a new feel and I loved it!!!
Real review to come soon...
July 23, 2021
I'm a real fan of most of Ms. Dell's books, and this one I liked particularly. I always like it when the strong man types let their guard down and really fall for the heroine. I was interested in the great similarity noted by another reader between this book and Georgette Heyer's book These Old Shades. I am a D. E. Stevenson fan, and I'm also interested to find out where Liz of The Four Graces found a quote she was looking for "when the half gods go, the gods appear." She couldn't find the source in her clergyman father's library, probably because she read it in the poem that Ms. Dell uses to introduce Charles Rex. The critics may have scorned her books, but it seems like readers and writers liked them.
July 26, 2016
I read the original version of this book, not the condensed, and I was blown away! It's such an emotional read, so poignant and deep, it made my heart bleed for all the characters were going through. Charles is one of my all time favorite heroes of literature now.. Swoooon.
He's the typical good-looking tortured hero, brought to his knees by a girl who is as innocent as she is hurt by life. When they first meet she is dressed as a boy, and stowed away on his ship illegally, in order to escape her abuser... Mystery and romance ensue. Gosh, I just love everything about this book. WHERE HAS IT BEEN ALL MY LIFE!
On a side note, I'll tell you where it has been all my life.
I read recently (you can see it on my feed) my favorite author's biography, Georgette Heyer's life story. In the book it was mentioned that Ethel Dell was one of the main influences of GH's writing. Now this is where is gets tricky.
Anyone read These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer? Yes? DId you love it? Are you still in love with it? Is it your favorite book, the best one you've ever read? Well, it was my favorite up to now. I mean, it still is, but reading Charles Rex, I made a very VERY disturbing realization.
Read no further if you don't want your favorite author knocked off her pedestal (who would want it, though? lol) Well, here is the sad truth: These Old Shades is a copy, almost word for word, of this book, Charles Rex. GH, poor soul, wasn't just 'inspired' by it, as Jennifer Kloester puts it. She just copied it, and changed the names. That's it. It's the exact same book, only set in another time, with minor differences in plot.
I mean, Charles even calls Toby 'Mignone' and 'enfant'. And the plot is the exact same thing. He rescues a young, poor boy, from his abuser, only to find out the boy is a young woman and then proceed to fall desperately in love with her, even though he knows he's not good enough for a pure girl like her. I love that plotline, it's so delicious, but aaaargh this was SO frustrating. And I have to say, much as I love GH, it was quite refreshing to read the original story, and to find out the original idea before it was stolen or copied or whatever. It was better than These Old Shades in many aspects. I still love Georgette, of course, but this was such a surprising discovery...
As soon as I got over my disappointment at my favorite author, however, I was able to enjoy the story and the writing, which is so poignant and deep, and not at all sappy or cheesy. It has so much fine humor and wit, and so much depth in its depictions of the various aspects of human nature and relationships, that it's now one of my favorite books ever. I'm just sad that it's out of print... If you can find it, read it. I guarantee you'll want to reread it many times. I know I do.
He's the typical good-looking tortured hero, brought to his knees by a girl who is as innocent as she is hurt by life. When they first meet she is dressed as a boy, and stowed away on his ship illegally, in order to escape her abuser... Mystery and romance ensue. Gosh, I just love everything about this book. WHERE HAS IT BEEN ALL MY LIFE!
On a side note, I'll tell you where it has been all my life.
I read recently (you can see it on my feed) my favorite author's biography, Georgette Heyer's life story. In the book it was mentioned that Ethel Dell was one of the main influences of GH's writing. Now this is where is gets tricky.
Anyone read These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer? Yes? DId you love it? Are you still in love with it? Is it your favorite book, the best one you've ever read? Well, it was my favorite up to now. I mean, it still is, but reading Charles Rex, I made a very VERY disturbing realization.
Read no further if you don't want your favorite author knocked off her pedestal (who would want it, though? lol) Well, here is the sad truth: These Old Shades is a copy, almost word for word, of this book, Charles Rex. GH, poor soul, wasn't just 'inspired' by it, as Jennifer Kloester puts it. She just copied it, and changed the names. That's it. It's the exact same book, only set in another time, with minor differences in plot.
I mean, Charles even calls Toby 'Mignone' and 'enfant'. And the plot is the exact same thing. He rescues a young, poor boy, from his abuser, only to find out the boy is a young woman and then proceed to fall desperately in love with her, even though he knows he's not good enough for a pure girl like her. I love that plotline, it's so delicious, but aaaargh this was SO frustrating. And I have to say, much as I love GH, it was quite refreshing to read the original story, and to find out the original idea before it was stolen or copied or whatever. It was better than These Old Shades in many aspects. I still love Georgette, of course, but this was such a surprising discovery...
As soon as I got over my disappointment at my favorite author, however, I was able to enjoy the story and the writing, which is so poignant and deep, and not at all sappy or cheesy. It has so much fine humor and wit, and so much depth in its depictions of the various aspects of human nature and relationships, that it's now one of my favorite books ever. I'm just sad that it's out of print... If you can find it, read it. I guarantee you'll want to reread it many times. I know I do.
March 2, 2017
A fun romp from the 20s.
July 20, 2016
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OceanPearl Books - Book Review
Not being a family man, Charles Rex travels widely and to some point aimlessly. On his last night in Italy, he rescues a small boy from a beating by his employer. What leads thereafter is an entanglement of duty, loyalty, love and honor bound marriages.
I only have reservations about Dell’s characterization of Charles Rex. She often defines his features as that of a monkeys. Rather, puts a damper on the hero’s image.
This book is available for FREE at http://manybooks.net/titles/delle1396....
Rating: 4.5/5
OceanPearl Books - Book Review
Not being a family man, Charles Rex travels widely and to some point aimlessly. On his last night in Italy, he rescues a small boy from a beating by his employer. What leads thereafter is an entanglement of duty, loyalty, love and honor bound marriages.
I only have reservations about Dell’s characterization of Charles Rex. She often defines his features as that of a monkeys. Rather, puts a damper on the hero’s image.
This book is available for FREE at http://manybooks.net/titles/delle1396....
Rating: 4.5/5
April 10, 2016
Buddy read with Tweety
This is the story of a wastrel who stows away on a yacht dressed as a boy, the mystery surrounding her and eventual romance.
Tweety enjoyed this more than I did, I'm sure that my having to read this in tired snatches (started a new job) didn't help. It's pleasant but I was looking for something more. And the female character irritated me. I was hoping I would warm to her over the course of the story but I never really did. But don't go by me. Read Tweety's review when she writes it and make a more informed choice. :)
This is the story of a wastrel who stows away on a yacht dressed as a boy, the mystery surrounding her and eventual romance.
Tweety enjoyed this more than I did, I'm sure that my having to read this in tired snatches (started a new job) didn't help. It's pleasant but I was looking for something more. And the female character irritated me. I was hoping I would warm to her over the course of the story but I never really did. But don't go by me. Read Tweety's review when she writes it and make a more informed choice. :)
February 26, 2013
I'm not sorry I love all of her books! Aside from one other author, she is my favourite. This one I couldn't put down. Ethel never runs out of ideas that are new and exciting.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews