D. E. Stevenson
Dorothy Emily Stevenson was a best-selling Scottish writer. She published more than 40 "light romantic novels" over a span of more than 40 years.
Life
Stevenson was born in Melville Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, on 18 November 1892. Her father was David Alan Stevenson, a lighthouse engineer and first cousin to author Robert Louis Stevenson and her mother was Annie Roberts. A commemorative plaque marking the house where she spent her childhood was mounted at 14 Eglinton Crescent, Edinburgh in 2016. She began writing at a young age but hid her efforts because her parents and governesses disapproved. Her father refused to send her to university, lest she become a bluestocking.[file:Moffat, Haywood Road, North Park placque.jpg|thumb|She lived at a house named "North Park" in Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway|Moffat from 1940 to her death]
In 1916, Stevenson married James Reid Peploe, a captain in the 6th Gurkha Rifles. The Peploes had four children. Her 1932 novel Mrs. Tim of the Regiment, which describes her life as a British army wife, was based on her personal diary.
She wrote most of her books while living in the town of Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Her novels were best-sellers, with more than seven million copies printed and translations in multiple languages. Her last book was published in 1969.
Stevenson died in Edinburgh in 1973. She is buried with her husband in Moffat New Cemetery.
Legacy
In 2017, Historic Environment Scotland awarded a plaque to commemorate Stevenson, at 14 Eglinton Crescent, Edinburgh.Poetry
Stevenson published three volumes of poetry, two of them before her novels.Meadow-flowers, 1915The Starry Mantle, 1926Alister and Co., 1940, 1943Novels
Stand-alone novels
Peter West, 1923 Divorced From Reality, 1935 Smouldering Fire, 1935The Empty World: A Romance of the Future, 1936 The Story of Rosabelle Shaw, 1937 Miss Bun the Baker's Daughter, 1938 Green Money, 1939Rochester's Wife, 1940The English Air, 1940Spring Magic, 1942Crooked Adam, 1942 in US, 1969 in UKCelia's House, 1943Listening Valley, 1944Kate Hardy, 1947Young Mrs. Savage, 1948Five Windows, 1953Charlotte Fairlie, 1954 The Tall Stranger, 1957Anna and her Daughters, 1958Still Glides the Stream, 1959The Musgraves, 1960The Blue Sapphire, 1963The House on the Cliff, 1966Mrs. Tim Christie
Mrs Tim of the Regiment, 1932 Golden Days, 1934 Mrs Tim Carries On, 1941Mrs. Tim Gets a Job, 1947Mrs. Tim Flies Home, 1952Note that Mrs Tim of the Regiment and Golden Days were originally published separately, but all subsequent reprints combined the two halves into a single volume titled Mrs. Tim Christie.
Miss Buncle
Miss Buncle's Book, 1934 Miss Buncle Married, 1936 The Two Mrs. Abbotts, 1943 The Four Graces, 1946Vittoria Cottage trilogy
Vittoria Cottage, 1949Music in The Hills, 1950Winter and Rough Weather, 1951Other series
AmberwellAmberwell, 1955Summerhills, 1956Bel LamingtonBel Lamington, 1961Fletcher's End, 1962
Katherine WentworthKatherine Wentworth, 1964Katherine's Marriage, 1965
Sarah Morris RemembersSarah Morris Remembers, 1967Sarah's Cottage, 1968
Gerald and ElizabethGerald and Elizabeth, 1969House of the Deer, 1970
Posthumously published works
Five additional works were published by Greyladies after being discovered in a box in the Stevenson family attic.Jean Erskine's Secret, written 1913–1917, published 2013Emily Dennistoun, written 1920s, published 2011Portrait of Saskia, written 1920s, published 2011The Fair Miss Fortune, written 1930s, published 2011Found in the Attic, collection of papers, published 2013Inter-book links
Some of Stevenson's characters appear as supporting characters or make cameo appearances in her other novels. She also sometimes reused settings.Miss Buncle spills into The Four Graces as well as Spring Magic, and her book is described in Anna and her Daughters. Celia's House inspired Listening Valley, where Celia makes a re-appearance. Readers hear of her again during Anna and Her Daughters. Anna pops up briefly in the Katherine books which link with Charlotte Fairlie. Later Sarah Morris ends up in Ryddelton in Sarah's Cottage to be befriended by Debbie and to hear about Tonia and Charlotte Fairlie.
More links exist from the Katherine books, via Mr Sandford the lawyer, to House on the Cliff which links via Miss Martineau the landlady to The Blue Sapphire. The Katherine books also tell readers more about MacAslan who is first introduced in Smouldering Fire. Stevenson's last book, The House of the Deer revisits the MacAslan family in the second generation, and is a sequel to Gerald and Elizabeth.
Gerald and Elizabeth enter into the saga around Drumburly and re-introduce Freda from Five Windows. Jock from the Music in the Hills trilogy also knows of Freda. Bel Lamington links into these books. Bel's friend Margaret was a Musgrave, and there are links from The Musgraves to The Tall Stranger, which was a sequel to Five Windows. The Musgraves give a tenuous link back to Ryddelton via "The Mulberry Coach", a story written by one of Anna's daughters and nearly performed by Delia Musgrave.
The Amberwell books link closely to Still Glides the Stream which in turn ties in with the Sarah books, in that Will and Sarah both visit Nivennes and meet with the Delormes family, although their visits are many years apart.
Another recurring character is the author Janetta Walters, whose light romantic novels are either loved or loathed by Stevenson characters. Her books in are mentioned in Mrs. Tim Carries On and Spring Magic. She appears in person in The Two Mrs. Abbotts and The Four Graces.
Dr. Wrench appears briefly in Vittoria Cottage to deliver the Widgeons' baby. He was introduced as Arthur's close friend and war buddy in Miss Buncle Married. He continued to appear in The Two Mrs. Abbotts where he had the added and interesting role of the bonfire builder.
Republication
Some of Stevenson's most popular books are being reissued.Persephone Books reprinted Miss Buncle's Book in 2008 and Miss Buncle Married in 2011. Mrs. Tim of the Regiment was reprinted by Bloomsbury in 2010. Sourcebooks Landmark released the latter two Miss Buncle books in the U.S. in 2012, followed in 2013 by The Young Clementina and The Two Mrs. Abbotts. Endeavour Media has republished many of D.E Stevenson's titles in eBook format, and Dean Street Press have issued several as paperbacks.