English Novelist (1877-1950)

It took a few years of searching booksellers worldwide, but I now have a complete collection of the 72 published books of English author Warwick Deeping. 

In this long rambling post, I'll explain how this project came about and offer some commentary on the books as well as other facts I've learned about WD.

First, some history of Warwick Deeping. He is best known for his 33rd book, Sorrell and Son, which was a worldwide success in the mid 1920's and was on the screen several times, originally as a silent film.  It was also produced as a BBC mini-series in the mid 1980's.

Prior to his career as a novelist, Deeping briefly practiced medicine, following in the footsteps of his father, Dr. George Davidson Deeping.  Early in his medical career (1903) he published his first novel, Uther and Igraine, and with the success of that novel, he gave up medicine and became a full time author.  

His literary career was briefly interrupted 14 years later, when in the Great War (WWI), he volunteered for the Royal Army Medical Corps.  In this endeavor, he served as a MO (Medical Officer) in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey as well as at the front in France.  His experiences in "The Great War" became the basis for many of his best novels after he returned home.

The volume of his literary work was immense. He published at least one, and sometimes two, full length novels each year as well as hundreds of short stories over his 50+ years of writing.  Even at his death, he still had unpublished novels that were later published by his wife, Maude Deeping.  

The Lost Stories of Warwick Deeping
Regarding his short stories, I've now identified well over 250 short stories, novellas, and essays that he never published in hardback book form. These works were only published in fiction magazines of the time such as The Story-Teller Magazine, The Strand, Cassells, and The New Magazine.  Some also appeared in a variety of newspapers in the UK, US, and Australia.   

Update - Nine Volumes, comprising a collection of all of these "lost" stories are now available. Volumes VII and VIII each contain TWO complete, never published novels from Warwick Deeping.  Volume IX contains 4 partially complete full novels with Deeping's notes on how he planned to complete the stories.   

Copies of all of these unpublished works were held by a collector in the U.K. since the mid 60s and with the expiration of all copyrights in 2021, have been published for the first time.

UPDATE - Fall of 2024 -  I've released hardcover versions of these volumes.  Volumes I - IX (complete series) are now available on Amazon.  These may start showing up in College and University libraries as the collection has a U.S. Library of Congress Number.  Volume VIII is in two parts - a Volume VIII Part I and Volume VIII Part II since the original 700+ page softcover Volume VIII exceeds the maximum 550 pages allowed by the printer for hardcovers 

Link to hardcover version of Volume I    Volume I

You can find the other hardcover volumes by searching Amazon

Hardcover and Softcover printed books available from AMAZON 

                                                 

My book collecting efforts started in 2005 after my wife brought home a copy of Deeping's book, Kitty, that she found at an estate sale.  She bought it only because of the name - that of our then, 14 year old Russian Blue cat, Kitty. It was a few months before I picked up the book and started reading it. I liked Kitty and Deeping's writing style.  

Kitty is the story of a conflict between the wife of war-injured WW I soldier and his wealthy, domineering, class-conscious mother.  It's the first novel I'd read of life in post WW I England.

Kitty - The Novel

Kitty - The Cat

(A reader pointed out that the green carpet and pattern on which Kitty sits, closely resembles that of the green cover of the book and the flowered insert - a coincidence I had not noticed.)

After reading this, I saw in the preface of Kitty the name of some of Deeping's  other works.  In doing some internet research I saw Ropers Row for $1.00 from a seller on E-Bay.  I was lucky to have randomly chosen that title for I found it was also a very interesting story, else my quest may not have started.

I next read Doomsday. This is the story of an ex-WW I soldier's struggle with life on his farm. It details his very difficult life in surviving against nature on the farm and his romantic involvement with two different type of women.

After reading these first three novels and learning that there were "only" 72 books written by Deeping, I had the inspiration to make a hobby out of collecting and reading all of his novels.  I envisioned this taking a few years to complete and viewed it as a nice diversion from my totally unrelated professional career.  I prefer reading to watching movies, and since I was going to be reading something, why not just collect and read all of the Warwick Deepings? 

I assumed all of the Warwick Deeping novels would all be of a similar nature as the first three I had read, that of life in England in the 1920's and 1930's.  I was to later learn that some of his early works were set in medieval times and some in the "rustic" times of the 1500s to late 1700s.  I was to find the novels of the medieval times uninteresting to me.

This collection effort rapidly grew out of control, as once I had collected and read the first 10 or so, I realized I was too far into the process to stop.   Fortunately, I was only looking to collect each book in some physical form suitable for reading, actual condition or edition wasn't that important.  As you can see from the bookshelf photo, some of them are quite worn and the pages are foxed and torn, but over 100 years have passed since some were published.

Without the Internet to locate sources and learn of Deeping's history, I'd never have started this project.  Prior to the internet it would have taken research in major libraries to identify of all of his books.  Finding copies inexpensively would have been very difficult.   However, by using the Internet, I found it relatively easy to identify and to find inexpensively priced copies of all but a few of them.  It took months for some of the rarer ones to appear for sale, but in most cases, I usually paid more for shipping than the price of the book, especially with those coming from outside the US.  

I recall searching for about 6 months before I found anyone selling a copy of Three Rooms. For months, the only one listed anywhere was described as torn and missing the back cover and even so was priced too high for me.   The first one I finally obtained at a reasonable price was printed in 1928 and has the description “cheap edition” actually printed on the frontispiece” of the book.  It is cheaper looking than other Deeping volumes - it does have a hard cover but of thick paper in a dark black color and now frayed on the edges.  The paper is of a very low quality, all yellowed (foxed) by this time.  It is a small book and printed in much smaller font than other books, so as to reduce the number of pages and paper required.  I was later to learn this "cheap edition" was commonly called the "shilling" versions, as to be described later.

This "cheap edition" is in comparison to the Borzoi series that were published in the U.S. by his U.S. publisher, Alfred Knopf of New York. It appears the Borzoi series started with Old Pybus and ran through I Live Again. These books are in a very attractive dark green cloth covering with a red floral design in the border and gold lettering.  The style changed a bit after the first volumes.  The gold lettering was changed to red.  At some point, Knopf even switched to what was probably a lower cost covering material with a much lighter green and a different pattern, but still referred to them as the Borzoi series.

Some of his early books had a frontispiece with a color painting of a scene in the book. Some paintings were by A.C. Michael and others by Christopher Clark.  Love Among The Ruins has several black and white paintings of scenes by W. Benda.

This is the frontispiece from Mad Barbara, painted by Christopher Clark.

This is from A.C. Michaels in The White Gate.

This is from Fox Farm, also by A.C. Michaels.  This one of the characters, Ann with Brick the dog.  This is a nice painting.  I wonder if the original still exists ?

Another one by A.C. Michaels from Marriage by Conquest in 1915.

Book covers were in fashion by the time of Deeping's first novel Uther and Igrane, in 1903.  

        

The photo below shows more of the "cheap edition" books, also known as "Shilling" novels because they sold for three shillings.  They were the equivalent of the lower cost paperback books we have today.  All of the 32 books that Deeping had published prior to Sorrell and Son were republished so as to capitalize on his new worldwide popularity after Sorrell and Son.  Cassell was his primary U.K. publisher and published these reprints in the "cheap edition" version in addition to higher quality bindings.

Many of the later book covers were very colorful paintings. I only have a few that have intact jackets. 

Below are Fantasia and Bluewater, the same novel with different UK and USA names.

Regarding the name differences, this is applicable to a number of his books and I am not sure why Deeping or the publishers used different names for U.S. and U.K releases.  As I was first collecting, this duplication caused me to end up with two copies of some of them until I was able to develop a complete list of primary and AKA (Also Known As) names.   I also found that many of his short stories appearing in magazines used different titles depending on the venue. 

I ordered my books from dealers and individual sellers all over the world, quite a few from Australia and New Zealand and, of course, England.  Part of the challenge of this endeavor was deciding what my next one would be and then waiting for it to arrive.  I never ordered a new one until I'd finished one I was reading, so there was a 2-3 week gap between books.  Although she didn't initially understand my interest with this, my wife encouraged this hobby and bought the antique bookcase shown in the photo that we use to keep the collection.

The most expensive book in my collection is Return of the Petticoat and my copy was the only one I ever saw listed for sale in the few years that I was acquiring the collection. This is the last one I read and I think a very unusual theme for its time (1907). It concerns a wealthy woman who became bored with the social constraints imposed on women and decided to live life disguised as a man.  The German version of this book, Haute Adam, Morgan Eva (Today Adam, Tomorrow Eve) is very commonly found on Ebay, but of course, is printed in the German language, so I waited until the last to buy an English language version.  I even looked for this book when we were in the UK in January 2008, hoping I'd find one in some book shop at a bargain price, but amazingly, in all the book shops I visited, they had NO Deeping at all!  A few of the booksellers knew of him, but after his death in 1950, he dropped off the list of books in demand.

All total, I probably have about $700 invested, including postage, in the complete collection, or an average of under $10 per novel. The themes in many of the stories are timeless and I'd like future generations to read them, so I hope my heirs keep them around, and in fact read them at some point. 

Deeping's themes are often centered about medical doctors, no doubt due to his original profession.  His father and grandfather were also MDs and the father-son MD theme also occurs more than once in his works (Time to Heal and Serpents Tooth). He also wrote about WWI and his descriptions of a soldier’s life are vividly described in many of his novels and short stories.

After reading all of his published novels and short stories, here are some of my observations and comments:

The underlying theme in the majority of his stories is that individuals with good character ultimately find happiness.  He often concentrates on downtrodden, misunderstood, disadvantaged, or black sheep individuals overcoming obstacles. He also has a way of making sure dishonest, unethical, and disreputable characters ultimately receive their just punishments in the form of horrible accidents, public embarrassment, death, dishonor, or loss of their fortunes.   

He seemed to have a fascination with scything. It is ancient to us now, but in Deeping's time it was the common form of cutting wheat and grass since powered tools were rare.  Stories of men learning the difficult art of using scythes or just using them are in many of his novels and short stories.  Deeping either was an expert with the scythe or perhaps had a friend or relative who had the skill or he just found it interesting.  I've seen videos of people demonstrating scything and it is very impressive to see the sweeping motion taking out large areas of grass with apparently little effort. However, from Deeping's descriptions of men learning to scythe, it is not as easy at it looks.  It takes much practice and stamina to become proficient in it.

He has a similar like of the Balaam's Ass story from II Peter in the Bible. References to this phrase appear in numerous novels.

Even though he had the usual disclaimer that the story in a book was not based on real characters, it obvious that many of the characters and events in his stories were based on his personal experience as an MD in the Medical Officer Corps. His description of events and personalities was too real to not have lived it and met some of the characters.

Pet dogs are a very favorite theme and frequently the beloved dogs tragically die from accidents or sometimes from evil human actions. Cats appear often as somewhat passive pets and enjoy their “saucer of milk” but never suffer tragic deaths.

Fruit trees, orchards, flowers, and details of gardening, are another favorite theme. Quite often, he uses the horticultural and popular names of the large number of varieties of fruit trues and plants, as well as flowers. Apparently he was quite the amateur gardener (both ornamental and fruit) and he liked to put his knowledge of this subject into his works.

Deeping must have loved gorse and furze. I'd never heard of the plant but found it's a type of wild Ilex and most every novel has some descriptions of it growing in the wild. "Blazing Gorse" or "Gorse or furze in bloom" is a favorite expression. This photo is of Gorse in bloom on the southern coast of England.

Deeping traveled widely around Europe and he wove descriptions of various landmarks and cities into his stories. Here is a photo of the Rocher De La Vierge (Rock of the Virgin) off the shore of Biarritz, France. This was the scene of a battle to the death between John Lancaster and his lifelong enemy in Malice of Men. Deeping must have visited this place in one of his many travels to France as he describes it exactly as I've found it in photographs.  This is a 1910 photo showing the bridge connecting the mainland to the rock with the statue of the Virgin Mary on the rock.  In Deeping's day, the bridge was the wooden one shown in the 1910 photo, it has since been replaced with a steel structure.

A reader of this blog sent me a copy of this letter that showed Deeping had visited Biarritz in 1931, a few years before Malice of Men was published.  The Hotel du Palais is still in business and is a five star hotel on the coast.

I learned quite a bit about late Victorian and Edwardian age in England from reading Deeping. The language context was interesting. For instance, there were sentences about "making love" to a woman, a term that in those days was used to describe flirtatious conversation.

"Wings" on cars puzzled me until I remembered that he was writing about cars in the mid to late 20's when styling changed to put coverings over the tires as compared to first generation autos that were really motorized wagons. The "wings" were the stylized shapes on the sides of the body that covered the upper portion of the tires.

Deeping very rarely re-used characters in his other novels, but I have noticed a few.  As I was reading Old Pybus, I came across a scene where the young Mr. Pybus was visiting his friend "Kit", described identically as the "Kit" in the earlier novel, Sorrell and Son.  He also visited "an ex-officer and his wife" who ran a tea and dancing business on the river, the exact scenario in the earlier novel Kitty, although the officer and wife weren't mentioned by name. 

In The Dark House, John Richmond and his family later appear in minor roles in Slade, and also in The Cleric's Secret.  A Dr. Baccus appears briefly in Shabby Summer AKA Folly Island and later as a major character in The Serpents Tooth. There is also a scene in Exiles where the main character goes to London for a vacation and on her return describes meeting a Dr. Hazzard, the primary character in Deeping's earlier novel Ropers Row.

Tea Time ! Tea Time ! It is everywhere, all the time, all day, all night, in any novel based later than the 1880's. Kettle on the boil, Indian, Ceylon, or China ? One lump or two ? Sounds like a great tradition - tea with cakes with icing. Home-made cake was most favored over the "store-bought" type.  If you were not as well off, your tea was with bread and margarine - or with a bit more resources, you had butter.

"Being in Queer Street" - slang for being in trouble. "George, you aren't going to be in Queer Street, are you?" I've seen that expression in more than a few of his works.

Airplanes - Deeping disliked them. More than a few characters in novels complain about the noise of airplanes buzzing around.  I originally thought that there may have been an airfield located close to Deeping's home and the noise from that annoyed him.   However in one of his essays, I found this may have been because of his association of the airplane with the destruction he saw in the Great War  :

We have had four phases of movements: The foot-and-hoof period, The bicycle period, The automobile, The airplane.  

I have passed through three of these periods, and shared in them, while refusing to accept the fourth, perhaps because the airplane still suggests to me the loathsome bombing-bird of the war.

UPDATE - I've learned that Deeping's home was about 2 miles from the main runway of Brooklands, a racetrack/airdrome.  Perhaps he did hear aircraft traffic from this airport that annoyed him.

The custom of "whitening" the front steps of a home or hotel was interesting to me. Apparently, if your front steps were not whitewashed each morning, it reflected on your character. Of course, the "help" always did this type of work which required first washing the steps, and then painting on some type of whitewash made of chalk.  When my wife and I visited Brighton, UK in early 2008, I looked for this in the homes and hotels along the oceanfront where we stayed, but no sign of it all - apparently long ago out of fashion. Rightly so, it was probably a lot of work to keep the front steps perfectly clean with people tracking in mud and dirt.

Smoking pipes was quite common among men. In his novels of life after the 1920's it was also common for women to smoke cigarettes.

I'd never heard of the term "scullery", but found it used often in his stories. It is a room off the kitchen where one did the washing and cleaning of dishes, apart from the cooking/baking area of a kitchen.

I also didn't realize the extreme class consciousness that existed in those times. For instance, if you were "well off", you must have at least one live in "girl" who was the housekeeper/cook and always called in a "charwoman" to help with the heavy annual housecleaning. Being "In Service" meant you were a housekeeper, maid, butler/valet, or chauffeur.

Unless you were wealthy enough to own a home or estate "freehold", you "let" your place of residence from the wealthy estate owners who owned vast areas of land and most of the city property. If you were looking to "let", you first went to an agent of the owner who would give you a "bill of viewing" which was a type of pass to let you enter the home if it was already occupied by another renter, or to identify you should you be questioned by the police while you were viewing the home. The agents apparently had no restrictive government rules about discrimination as has been imposed in the US and were free to use their judgment as to the suitability of a prospective tenant for the property. If you didn't have proper "references", or the agent didn't think you would be a suitable tenant, you were denied even the ability to view the property.

Visitors to homes either knocked at the back door or front, depending on their status. All tradespeople always went to the back, including apparently some of the medical doctors, where the rear door maid answered. It was the job of the "girl" to answer any knocks at the front door and if she felt you were out of place, you were directed to go to the back door!   In the row houses in which there wasn't a back entry, the lower level or basement stairs was the entry for the trades as the kitchen was in the lower level.

If you “kept a shop”, such as a purveyor of tobacco, toys, clothes, or a greengrocer (vegetables and fruits), you were of a lower class than a “lady” or “gentlemen” who had independent means and derived income from inheritances or rent from property.

The term "settle" was used often in his books. It was apparently common for a wealthy husband to "settle" on his wife or perhaps a soon to be ex-wife, a given amount of money so she could earn interest on it and have an independent means of income. 5% interest on your capital seemed to be a normal interest income in the early 1900's. If someone had "settled" on you 10,000 pounds, you had about 500 pounds a year, a very comfortable existence in the early 1900's.  50 pounds a year was bare subsistence living and 150 pounds or so was a bit more comfortable and might even allow one to have live-in "help".  The help often lived in the "back" rooms or in the attic room or perhaps a basement room.  The help was summoned by a hand bell or in some cases, each bedroom had a string connected to a series of bells in the area where the help worked and slept.

Those who couldn't afford to pay the fees associated with house visitation by the MD would go to the MD’s office and wait for treatment during “surgery” hours, usually 9-10 and 5-6 in the evening. These hours were the few hours in the morning and evening when the MD was not out visiting homes and would see you in his “surgery”.

Prior to widespread use of automobiles, in good weather, the country doctor traveled in a "dog cart", a small wagon type vehicle pulled by a horse. If he was especially successful, he had a "boy", dressed in a smart uniform, who drove the dog cart. Absent a dog cart, and outside walking distance, the MD traveled by horse.  In bad weather, the well off MDs traveled in a brougham which was a form of horse drawn - covered carriage.

There was a forward looking window in the brougham.  A foot warmer heated with coal would help the MD survive the cold weather during the journey.   Unfortunately, the driver had to sit up-front, out in the elements and depend on heavy boots, hats and coats to stay warm.

It was not pleasant to be sick in those days. When there were no hospitals near, the country MD performed emergency and even elective surgeries in a patient's home, right on the dining room table.

In the early 1900's they already had "clubs" to which workers belonged. A person paid some small fee to join the club that had arranged with the MD for reduced fees on his services in return for the guaranteed business from the large number of club members.

A wealthy land owner with many workers living in the land owner's cottages would likely be part of a medical club so his workers had access to medical care. 

In country practices, it was the practice for new MDs to "buy in" to an existing practice, so as to be accepted in the community and have an immediate source of goodwill and patients from the existing MD's practice.  This buy-in would occur when one of the MDs in a practice retired or died. 

To arrive in a small town and "put up a plate" without buying into an existing practice was in very bad form, though permitted by the MD licensing boards. MDs who did this were called "Squatters" and were looked down on by the resident MDs because they were new competition and hadn't paid their "dues" in the form of a business buy-in. Of course, some residents welcomed them because they would charge lower rates than the current MDs and would willingly accept the chronic complainers who had exhausted the resident MD's compassion and patience. In the city, you were more likely to "put up a plate" with less professional reaction because of the large number of potential patients.  In Deeping's stories, Harley Street was the sina quo non of locations in which to have an office in London.  I believe it still is.

Deeping had a fascination with "tramping", the term he applied to someone who took to the road and slept where ever the night found them. He wrote about this practice in more than a few novels where characters engage in this roaming when their finances run low. He also wrote about people spending the night with other homeless people on the benches along the embankment of the Thames River in London. Apparently the benches there were a popular place to spend the night for the homeless. I think that to learn all that he wrote about tramping that he must have engaged in this himself as part of his research.

Gypsies - They must have been very common in Deeping's days, as scenes of characters confronting gypsies in their horse-drawn caravans are in more than one Deeping novel.  Deeping didn't portray them as honest and implied they were always looking to steal from farmers and homeowners. 

Cleaning of boots was the job of the lowest porter (often called "boots") at any of the hotels or rooming houses. Women and men would leave their shoes outside the door at night to be cleaned and polished overnight. If the hotel was big enough to have more than one porter, then this job fell to the less senior person while the head porter received the most tips. This is probably not much different than the hierarchy today in modern hotels.

America - very little about America in Deeping's novels other than characters occasionally grumbling about "cheap American" items, such as lawn mowers, or other appliances.  No scenes in America except for a brief visit of the leading character in Sackcloth to Silk AKA The Golden Cord, to New York as part of a publicity tour for one of his plays.  I think Deeping visited America as part of filming of Sorrell and Son or perhaps for a book and film publicity tour.

Mentioned in several novels is the great American wheat invasion of the late 1870s in which cheaper imported American wheat destroyed the English farmers who couldn't compete in pricing.  This is similar to our TV and radio manufacturing industries being destroyed when the lower cost but equal quality Japanese products arrived in the mid 1960s.

I learned a bit more about English money than I ever knew and believe the following to be correct:

There were twenty (20) shillings per pound. The shilling was subdivided into twelve (12) pennies. The penny was further sub-divided into two halfpennies or four farthings (quarter pennies).

2 farthings = 1 halfpenny
2 halfpence = 1 penny (1d)
3 pence = 1 thruppence (3d)
6 pence = 1 sixpence (a 'tanner') (6d)
12 pence = 1 shilling (a bob) (1s)
2 shillings = 1 florin ( a 'two bob bit') (2s)
2 shillings and 6 pence = 1 half crown (2s 6d)
5 shillings = 1 Crown (5s)
1 guinea = 21 shillings (1 pound, 1 shilling)

While in Brighton on a trip in 2008, I asked my host one time about the guinea and he was quite surprised I knew about it as it is an old term, apparently unknown in today's economy.

In the early 1900s, one person needed about 50 pounds a year for bare minimum housing and food.

Prior to reading Deeping, I had never heard of "Bathing Machines". This unusual device was mentioned in Caroline Terrace, set in the 1890s in the seaside town of Southfleet (modeled after Deeping's own hometown of Southend), east of London. The bathing machine was a necessary component of sea-side etiquette in the late 19th century. The seaside bathing areas for women were set apart from those reserved for men, to guarantee that the modest woman in her bathing costume would not be seen by the opposite sex. 

The bathing machine was a box on wheels; it was about six feet in length and width, and about eight feet high, with a peaked roof. It had a door behind and in front, and as the floor was four feet above the ground, it had to be reached by a step-ladder. The bathing machine was wheeled or slid down into the water; some were pulled in and out of the surf by a pair of horses with a driver and others by human power. The women would change into bathing attire while in the bathing machine, and once in the water, the women could exit from the rear and swim in privacy! For the women, there was even the option of a hired "dipper" who would help you out of the machine into the water.

The photo below is of bathing machines on the beach at Brighton in the 1890s, on the south coast of England.  My wife and I have visited Brighton and the old pier on which this 1890 photo was taken is now a derelict skeleton of wood, having suffered a fire and burned to the waterline.  A new one further east down the beach has replaced it.  We went out on this pier which has an amusement park at the end.  There was a good selection of fast food and excitement.  I recall it was a beautiful day, in the low 60s with a brisk wind from the south.

Another unusual term I found in stories was char-a-banc.  Deeping describes these in several stories.   It is a French name for a multi-passenger, open touring vehicle.  Originally these were horse drawn, later becoming motorized. Of course, these have now evolved into the covered motor-coaches of today.

I've been asked by those who know of my collection, what books I'd recommend.  For new readers, I recommend starting with Malice of Men, Ropers Row, Corn in Egypt, Kitty, Return of The Petticoat, or Slade. These are longish books – 350 pages or more and I think some of his best works. While Sorrell and Son is his most well known book, I didn't read that until well into my collecting.

Based on my research, the list below shows all of the titles and original dates of his published novels. My favorites concern life in England in the late 1800s to 1940s. I've included just a short summary of each.  I didn't put in ratings but did put comments on those that I thought were his best works.   For those that I say are set in "contemporary" times, this is of course relative to the time of publication.  I say medieval romance for anything prior to the 1500s.  From 1600 to 1880s, I call these "rustic".  The years of publication of some of the early issues may be off 1 year either way.   I think they are listed in order of publication.

# TITLE-YEAR

1 Uther and Igraine - 1903 - Medieval Romance

This was originally published by Grant Richards and those books have a very elaborate embossed cover design.  Richards apparently spared no expense and used good paper as my copy is in very good condition.  This "spare no expense" philosophy may not have been such a good idea as Grant Richards later went bankrupt.  I've seen an edition also published in 1903 by The Outlook Company in New York.  It has the same elaborate, embossed cover.

2 Love Among the Ruins-1904 - Medieval Romance.  This was also originally published by Grant Richards.  The Deeping Archives at Boston University has an undated, typed manuscript of about 300 pages with the title Fulviac, which is the name of the character in Love Among The Ruins.   The manuscript of Fulviac begins the same as Love Among The Ruins.   The endings are different and chapter XVIII in Fulviac doesn't appear in the novel.  Apparently Fulviac was the first version of this novel and it was revised prior to publication of the novel and the title was changed.  

From a 1908 interview with Deeping that I found in a newspaper from Hastings, he tells the interviewer that he wrote Love Among The Ruins first and submitted it to Grant Richards who had it for a year before saying he wouldn't publish it.  Deeping relates that he "thought out" the complete story one Sunday while at church!    During the year that Grant Richards was considering Love Among The Ruins, Deeping wrote Uther and Igraine and also submitted it to Grant Richards.  Richards then said he would publish both of them with Uther and Igraine the first to be published.  

In this same interview, Deeping relates that his first paid work was a "rather lurid tale" published in a London daily, for which he never received payment. I've never been able to locate this story or newspaper which apparently was in the 1900-1903 period.  In the interview, he did not give the title of the story.  It is possible he published it under a pseudonym, or else it was such an obscure London paper that the paper has never been scanned in any of the on-line archives.    Another puzzle to be solved.

3 The Slanderers-1905 - His first novel that was set in contemporary times, England of late 1890s.  The romance of two individuals is misunderstood by the villagers.   This book was well received, especially since it was in "modern" time, but Deeping went back to medieval romances for his next book.

4 The Seven Streams-1905 - Another Medieval Romance.

5 Bess of the Woods-1906 -This is set in the 1700's and while the times are still a bit "rustic" for me, at least it wasn't in the Medieval times.  After the death of his father, wealthy Richard Jaffrey returns from exploring life in Italy to be the new master of his father's large estate. He is too kind-hearted for such a responsibility and easily taken advantage of by those looking to share in his wealth, including his aged Aunt and a older spinster who is eager to marry him for his money. He unwittingly becomes engaged to the older woman but then unexpectedly meets a much younger and far more dynamic and mysterious woman that lives with her rather wild family in the woods nearby the estate. He has to decide his path and a smallpox epidemic adds to the excitement.

6 The Return of the Petticoat-1907 - Back to contemporary times with an unusual theme for its post-Victorian era. A wealthy woman from Australia moves back from the old country and decides to live for a while disguised as a man on her own "gentleman's" farm in England. He (she) falls in love with her foreman and devises a clever way of solving the dilemma. I have a 1913 red cover version of this from Cassells.  The frontispiece says it is a "REVISED" edition and I've learned it is slightly edited from the original 1907 version and deleted some references to a severed hand in a plate.

To gain some experience in the publishing world, I've published a reprint of this and it is for sale on Amazon.com.  It is out of copyright protection in the U.S., Canada, and Australia as it was prior to 1923.  I think it turned out well and offers one an opportunity to read this normally very expensive (if you can even find a copy) book.   I'm quite surprised to see that I've sold a few of them with no marketing. Perhaps the "conflicted gender identity" keywords attract people in searches.   

7 A Woman's War-1907 - Excellent story of a young MD in the 1890s struggling with his addiction to alcohol and the support of his wife and family. I have a first edition copy of this published by Harper.  There are a few pages of the original manuscript of this in the Warwick Deeping Archives at Boston University.  They mis-characterize this as " fragments of an unpublished novel".

8 Bertrand of Brittany-1908 - Set in France in 1300s! When I first bought this, I skimmed it since it was not in contemporary times. After I'd finished my collection, I went back to read it for the 2nd time and enjoyed it.  The Deeping Archives at Boston University contain the original  handwritten manuscript of this on 8" x 16" folded sheets.  

9 Mad Barbara AKA These White Hands-1908 - Set in the 1690's, I was initially set to not like it but after a few chapters I was absorbed in the story. I've noticed that there are now many vendors selling instant published versions of this now, since it is out of copyright (In the U.S anything published prior to 1923 is in the public domain) .    UPDATE - As of January 2021, all of Deeping's worldwide copyrights have expired.

It's difficult to find anyone even listing the original book for sale and the copies you do see are the ones from US publisher, McBride, that was published in the 1930's under the These White Hands title.  I have one of those copies and I also have a 1908 first edition with the Mad Barbara title that was published by Harper.  It has a very ornate, embossed cover.

10 The Red Saint-1909 - Medieval romance. I have a first edition of this.  Briefly skimmed it, and I can't recall anything of interest.

11 The Rust of Rome-1910 - Set in contemporary times. Benjamin Heriot, recently out of prison for a crime of violence, builds a house in the woods to get back to reality.  An evil neighbor landowner with designs on the daughter of another neighbor creates the opportunity for Heriot to regain his self-confidence.  This is now a very rare book and I was fortunate to find a very reasonably priced first edition copy of this early in my collecting.  

The Deeping Archives at Boston University contains the original  handwritten manuscript of this on 8" x 16" folded sheets.   On the reverse side of this manuscript is part of a novel with the title "The Flame Invisible ".  Upon examination, I determined that this was the novel "Lantern Lane".   As will be described later, Deeping had a habit of writing new novels on the back side of the manuscripts of earlier ones.

12 Fox Farm AKA The Eyes of Love-1911 - A contemporary story of a man in loveless marriage that is befriended by young woman after he is blinded in an accident. They go on a "tramping" adventure with near fatal consequences, but with a typical Deeping ending. This was made into a film (silent) in 1922, Deeping's 2nd film adaptation of one of his works.

13 Joan of the Tower-1911 - Medieval romance. I have a first edition copy of this.

14 The Lame Englishman-1911 - a lame Englishman (malformed foot) fighting with the Italians in the early 1800s against the French. Too rustic for me, so I skimmed it and haven't tried to reread. I have a first edition of this.  The Deeping Archives at Boston University contains the original holograph manuscript of this novel. 

15 Sincerity AKA The Strong Hand AKA The Challenge of Love-1912 -  This is Deeping's 2nd story about an MD and is set in contemporary times. A strong-willed, young MD takes up his first position working with an established MD in a small town.  He discovers sicknesses caused by poor sanitation but runs against town politics in trying to improve conditions.  I have a Cassell 1st edition of this book from 1912 that has the frontispiece painting by A.C. Michaels.  These are very rare with the 1930 reprints with the alternate titles being more common.  The Deeping Archives at Boston University contains portions of the original holograph manuscript of this novel.

16 The House of Spies-1913 - Cloak and sword romance set about 1813, with the threatened invasion of England by Napoleon. A mysterious house is occupied by a mad visionary, controlled by a French spy and his innocent daughter. I have a 1st edition copy of this book. It is in amazing shape for almost 100 years old.

17 The White Gate-1913 - Young girl of an alcoholic mother suffers a traumatic experience.  Later, an older widower marries her and helps her understand life.  Majority of the story takes place in first third of the story. To me, it seemed the rest of the story in the South of France was anticlimax.  It is set in contemporary times as we have steamships carrying travelers across the English Channel and there is talk of the excitement of a visit to the city by an airplane.  I have a first edition copy of this.

18 The Pride of Eve-1914 - Eve is an artist and paints illustrations of flowers for a wealthy horticulturist who is in a loveless marriage.  Romance ensues, but he doesn't want to hurt his young daughter so he keeps the relationship at a fantasy level. Eve becomes involved in the emerging woman's rights movement with unexpected consequences.  I've never seen a 1st edition of this offered for sale, mine is one of the "popular editions".

19 The Shield of Love AKA King behind the King-1914 - Set in 1600s, I'd never have read any more Deeping if this was the first book I'd found!  It is a smallish book, maybe 200 pages at most.  I tried several times, but couldn't get past the first part of it.  The reviews of it in newspapers of the time are favorable.

20 Marriage by Conquest - 1915 - English life in Sussex in the early 18th century.  As with others of the "rustic" genre, it is not my favorite time period but after getting through first few chapters I found it was an interesting story.  In this book, an innocent and trusting Richard Lombard inherits an estate and unwittingly becomes a pawn in a love affair between his wealthy lady neighbor and a nearby evil estate owner.  I have a rare first edition of this. 

21 Unrest AKA Bridge of Desire-1916 - Set in a contemporary period, a wealthy playwright living in a villa on the coast in Italy, foolishly becomes involved with another woman. His wife believes in him and waits for him to play out his fantasy.  This was made into a film (silent) in 1920, and was Deeping's first novel on the screen.  Like other film versions of his novels, the story-line has been modified somewhat from the book.   I have a 1st edition copy of this book with the title Unrest.   

I've found the ending of this novel is based on the short story, The Bridge Of Pain, that was in Cassell's Magazine, August 1914.  This story has different character names, but the same story-line of the errant husband being injured in a fall from a bridge on the villa's property as he tries to return to his wife.

22 Martin Valliant-1917 - Castles, bows and arrows - A story of a monk in perhaps the 1700's and way too rustic for me but I did manage to read it through one time.  I suppose Deeping wrote this while or before serving in the Medical Corps in France as it was published during the Great War.  I have a "near" first edition of this by Cassells.  It is the 2nd printing in March 1917 with the first edition in January.   Even this is rare as all you normally see are the U.S. version from McBride or the 1928 reprints by Cassell.

23 Valour-1919 -Deeping's first novel based on WW I - a look into the carnage of trench warfare. I had my copy of this on a trip to France and was reading it while in Toulouse.  I have a very rare 1st edition copy of this, at least I've never seen another offered for sale.  Most versions are the 1930 republished version from McBride that was published in the U.S.

There was a short story version of this published under the same title Valour in The New Magazine for September 1917, a year or so before the novel release.  It is the same but "different" in that scenes are omitted and others expanded upon.  The characters are the same and the story line is the same -  branded as a coward, the soldier regains his respect by heroic action in battle.

24 Countess Glika-1919 - A collection of 5 medium length stories .  The first story, Countess Glika is a contemporary (for its time) spy novel, the next 3 stories (The Red Shirt, The Girl on the Mountain, and The Lady of the Terrace ) are all set in the Mediterranean area (Italy and France). The last one, Bitter Silence, concerns a man who didn't volunteer for WWI service for very good reasons but was treated as an outcast by the village and his love interest, for his apparently unpatriotic behavior.  All of these stories had first appeared in various issues of The Story-Teller Magazine prior to publication of the book.  I have a very rare 1st edition copy of this book. 

25 Second Youth AKA The Awakening-1919 - Set in contemporary times, a young attorney from a wealthy family marries, only to find his wife is an iceberg, interested only in using his family's money and climbing the social ladder.  Living a boring and loveless life in his small town, he leaves his wife, joins the war in France and finds a new life with purpose and meets a new romantic interest.  I have a first edition, 1919 copy of this, published by Cassell. Somewhere I read where Deeping said that he'd written most of this while in France in the Great War.

26. The Prophetic Marriage - 1920 Set in contemporary times, an orphaned young man is mentored by a wealthy entrepreneur who wants him to take over his large business enterprise.  His one admonition -  Whatever you do, don't marry until you are established in business !  Of course, the young man immediately falls in love with a money-craving vixen who destroys his life, business, and future career with his mentor.  After a divorce and joining the war in France, he finds his true character as an officer and also meets a French woman.  I have a 1st edition of this book.

In the Warwick Deeping archives at Boston University, the original manuscript is not there but there is a small notebook in which Deeping has planned the story with character names, concepts, etc.

27 Lantern Lane-1921 - Back to old times again, the early 1700s. Fairfax loses his confidence and a budding romantic interest when he is branded a coward for shirking a challenged sword duel. The London plague offers opportunity for him to prove his real self. Dueling with swords was a nasty way to resolve disputes!  The Deeping Archives at Boston University has portions of the handwritten manuscript of this with the original title of The Flame Invisible.  

28 The House of Adventure-1922 - Interesting story of WW I soldier and his life in small French village just after end of the war. Descriptions of the tragedy of destruction of lives and property in the small village.  There was a story with the same name in The Story-Teller Magazine for October 1921.  It is a shorter version of the novel, beginning at Chapter III of the novel.  The characters and the storyline are very similar but with a somewhat different ending that in the novel.

The Deeping Archives at Boston University have portions of the handwritten manuscript of this story.  They describe it as "fragments of an unpublished novel" - an error made by the BU archivist.

29 Orchards AKA The Captive Wife-1922 - Back to "rustic" times again in 1700s. It is centered about a wealthy estate owner and his arranged marriage to a much younger woman during the times of one of the English civil wars.   Like some of the other ones of this genre, I skimmed it the first time, but recently re-read it and saw all of Deeping's skills in developing the characters.  I have a rare 1st edition of this from Cassells with the Orchards title.

30 The Secret Sanctuary or The Saving of John Streton-1923 - This is actually the complete title, not an alternate one as with other books. Excellent story of a "shellshocked", WW I veteran returning home and finding he is unable to cope with his sometimes violent temper. Nearly killing a man when in an uncontrollable meltdown rage, his wealthy family buys him land in the woods to be alone with nature in a cabin he builds and hopefully, recover his mental health. A red haired vixen living nearby takes interest in him and when he shuns her, begins a campaign to humiliate him. His violent uncontrollable temper surfaces again and only with help of another woman does he find a solution to his problem.  I have a red cloth cover 1923 first edition version of this from Cassell.   

There is a short story, "The Case of John Streton" that was published in The New Magazine for January 1923, prior to the release of the novel.  It is similar but "different." Many scenes in the novel are not there, for instance the encounter with the red haired vixen, but the character names are the same and it has the same concept of John Streton living in the woods to regain his mental health.  It is not merely an edited version of the novel, as the beginning of this short story has more of the conversation between Streton's father and Streton's doctor discussing the proposed treatment of living in the woods. 

Related to the novel, I have a copy of a February 13, 1924 letter from Deeping's London based agent, Hughes Massie and Co.  The letter was written by Sidney Sanders, managing agent of Hughes Massie and Co. (but based in the New York Office) to Mr. Chambers of Bobbs Merrill Co. also in New York.  Bobbs Merrill Co. was a major publisher and apparently was about to publish Deeping's The Secret Sanctuary in the U.S.  They were going to use the title Sanctuary.   The letter was primarily about a review copy of Three Rooms that was enclosed, but mentioned that he was glad to hear that Deeping had made the alterations to Sanctuary that they had requested and that they were satisfactory.  He relates that when they respond to the request to publish Three Rooms, he would send along a contract for both books.   As we will see later, Bobbs Merrill flatly rejected Three Rooms and therefore The Secret Sanctuary was most likely not published either, as I've never seen any Deeping works published by Bobbs Merrill Co.   What changes Deeping made to The Secret Sanctuary that were not in the version already published by Cassell's, I don't know.  What is surprising about this is that publisher requested and Deeping agreed to make changes !   Deeping was still two books away from his blockbuster Sorrell and Son, so he didn't have the bargaining power that he had later.  

In this same letter, Sidney Sanders also relates that he gave a copy of Orchards to Chambers in Dec 1923 and that it was one of Deepings "costume" novels.  He proposed bringing it out as a series of Deeping's other "costume" novels under a pseudonym, beginning with Orchards.  Imagine, Deeping even considering publishing under a pseudonym!  Sanders thought with a certain amount of publicity that it would do well with the Sabatini public.    The offering to publish Deeping under a pseudonym again shows the relatively weak commercial position Deeping was in at this time.  Incidentally, the Sabatini public referred to Rafael Sabatini, an Italian born writer of the time who also wrote English historical romance novels, apparently what Sanders called "costume" novels.   More on the reaction of Bobbs Merrill Co. to Three Rooms in the review of that novel.

31 Apples of Gold -1923 - Set in 1700s again, the story of a young man from his adoption by a childless couple to manhood.  My copy of this is a very rare first edition with a red cloth cover from Cassell.

32 Three Rooms - 1924 - A somewhat shabby 39 room hotel in the southern coast of France is home to many characters exiled from England. A young woman, her mother who is chasing the last blooms of her youth, an unwell man trying to recover his health and courage, a wealthy, older, businessman looking for a young wife, and many others. The story centers around the young woman, Fefine, and her struggle to overcome the dominance of her mother.    

I have a first edition of this novel from Cassell.  Deeping tried to find a U.S. publisher for this, to no avail, as will be described later.

I found a newspaper clipping in an Australian paper from 1924 in which Deeping relates that he stayed at a hotel on the Rivera which was the model of the Hotel d' Esperance in the novel:

Continuing with the letters from Hughes Massie and Co. to Bobbs Merrill Co, offering them Three Rooms : Mr. Chambers of Bobbs Merrill Co. responds immediately on February 14, 1924, saying they will get busy with consideration of Three Rooms.   Interestingly, he immediately dismisses the idea of Orchards, saying he doesn't see a considerable American public for it.  But he says he will submit the suggestion of pseudonym publication to the directors and see how they feel about it. 

Next we see an internal letter of Bobbs-Merrill Company on February 25, 1924 to Mr. Chambers from some unknown editor, initials HHH.  It states that there is enclosed a copy of a review of Three Rooms by Mrs. Spurance (apparently a staff reviewer).  HHH states that "it sounds like a death notice, doesn't it ? ".    Handwritten on this is a reply from Mr. Chambers to HHH saying " It will be a great relief to the selling organization if we don't tie up with Deeping.   I suggest you handle it."

There is in the correspondence files, a 3 page typewritten critique by Mrs. A.A. Spurance.  It isn't too favorable!   She criticizes Deeping's flowery descriptions.  She states in the last paragraph. " To reject a well written, truthful story because of an excess of nature descriptions, because of its sameness, because it might be greatly cut without any loss of truthful portrayal, or any hitch in the story's movement, may seem hypercritical.  Perhaps it is.  Stories of this sort reach the public libraries but why any reader should purchase such a book is not plain.  It would be as difficult to advertise as to sell, for it lacks saliency, novelty, humor, intricacy of plot, rapidity of movement, dramatic action.  

Finally, we see the rejection letter dated March 1, 1924.  From HHH to Mr. Sanders at Hughes Massie and Co. it states that " Three Rooms is a heartbreaking disappointment !   It seems to lack all the qualities that make a book salable.  We would not know how to advertise it ; we would not know how to present it to the trade.  It's a sweeping indictment, but it lacks dramatic action, rapidity of movement, intricacy of plot, saliency, novelty, and humor.  It is of course, well written and is true to life as most of us know it.  It has atmosphere, the descriptions have charm, and the characters are knowable.  But there must be more than this if a story is to take hold. Knowing as you do my admiration for SANCTUARY, you will appreciate the sincerity of my disappointment, the pain with which I write this letter.  

Word too has just come to me of the attitude of our road salesmen ; their feeling that it will be almost impossible to revive interest in Deeping ; that even such an excellent book as SANCTUARY would fail to get a fair chance with the trade.  In the light of all these circumstances we feel the only thing we can do, with justice to Deeping and ourselves, is to withdraw from the negotiations and return you the manuscript, which we do with the utmost regret."

So, we see Bobbs Merrill and Co., turning down U.S. publication of both The Secret Sanctuary and Three Rooms !  Indeed they didn't want Deeping at all.   

They missed their chance of being Deeping's exclusive U.S. publisher by just one novel, as the U.S. publisher Alfred Knopf later picked up Deeping's Sorrell and Son a year later and the millions of dollars they made off Deeping's works as his U.S. publisher after that is history.  

Certainly, Mr. Chambers and H.H.H, just a year later seeing the incredible success of Deeping with Sorrell and Son, must have regretted the decision to dismiss him based on the review of Three Rooms by a lone staff reviewer.   No doubt, neither Mr. Chambers nor H.H.H. had read Three Rooms and relied on the word of the staff reviewer.   One wonders what Mrs. Spurance, the reviewer, thought a year later when she also saw the success of Sorrell and Son and his "flowery descriptions" being overwhelmingly accepted by the U.S. audience.


33 Suvla John-1924 - A WW I soldier survives an attempted murder by his jealous friend who leaves him for dead on the night of the evacuation at Suvla Bay. His wife and family think he was killed while at war.  He recovers in a Turkish prison and after the war, he is released and covertly returns home to find that the man who tried to kill him has since married his wife! His new name is taken from Suvla, a city in the islands off Turkey that was the scene of some treacherous WW I conflicts.

In an interesting twist on this, there is a 20 page story with the same title published in The Story-Teller Magazine for February 1924. When I first saw this title, I assumed it was an exact, but abbreviated version of the book since they both appeared in 1924. The concept is the same - a soldier is thought by his family to have been killed at Suvla Bay - but the names of many of the characters are different as are many of the scenes and the final outcome. It is odd that this was published in the same year as the novel with them being so different. Perhaps it is another case like Paradise Incorporated that evolved into Bluewater, in which Deeping submitted the shorter story a year or so earlier and then later decided to expand on it for a novel.

34 Sorrell and Son-1925 - Deeping achieved "overnight" worldwide success after 23 years as a published author with 33 books ! A story of a WWI veteran and his young son and the father's quest to make a good life for him. Made into film several times, the first in 1927, the last in mid 1980s as a BBC mini-series.  Published by Cassell's in Europe, Alfred Knopke was Deeping's U.S. publisher for this and all of his subsequent publications. 

In a correspondence I've seen in the Warwick Deeping archives that is dated Oct 27 1932, he tells someone in a letter that   “Sorrell was suggested by a porter I saw at a provincial hotel.  A dark, sensitive delicate looking creature who raised my curiosity.   All the rest is imaginative.” 

There is also a 4 act play of this novel. I've seen the original of this at the Deeping Archives and it is somewhat differerent than the novel.  

UPDATE - This is now in Volume IX of the "Lost Stories" series.  It begins with Sorrell working at the Angel Hotel which doesn't happen until several chapters into the novel.  Then, at the hotel, he meets Roland who in the play he knew as a wartime friend and fellow officer.  This was not the case in the novel.  In the play, Roland already owns the Pelican Hotel and offers Sorrell a job as second porter while in the novel, Roland has not yet opened the Pelican Hotel.  The rest of the play follows the storyline with some changes and reduction in dialog.   I suspect this play was actually the script for the first film version but I've never seen any versions of these films and can't confirm that assumption. 

As described later in this post, there appeared some 7 years later a short story featuring Sorrell.  This was Sorrell Plays Lancelot that was in Pictorial Review (a US magazine) in 1932.  Sorrell succumbed to his illness in the novel so it is strange that Deeping would revive his most famous character in what is another scene at the Pelican hotel.   I suspect this story was written much earlier, perhaps as part of the original novel and was edited out, only to be reused much later for some reason.   Also, having this most famous character only appear in a U.S. publication is unusual, so it is likely that this story appeared earlier in a U.K publication.  However, I've not found it in any of Deeping's normal U.K. publications.   UPDATE - I've found that this did appear first in a U.K. Publication - John Bull, in 1931.

I have a 1st edition of this novel.  These are rare as I've never seen another one advertised in all the time I've been collecting.  This one was someone's personal copy and not an ex-library copy as you find in many of Deeping's books.  This book has a gold foil Cassell stamp pasted on the bottom of the cover.   I am not sure of the significance of this stamp and when and why it appeared.   My 6th edition has the remnants of the stamp in the form of just white glue residue and I never knew what that was until I found this 1st edition with the stamp on it.

The interior page shows the first printing at 1925 with no reprint dates, so I'm confident this is indeed a 1st edition.   As seen in another photo, subsequent editions are always identified with the original publication date and the list of the various impressions.  This first edition has typos and odd sentence structures in a few places which I see were corrected by the time of the 6th edition.

35 Doomsday-1927 - Divided into 3 volumes: 1) Bean Flowers and Hay time, 2) Orchids, and 3) Doomsday. Furze is a WW I veteran struggling with life on his farm, Doomsday, in Sussex. He meets two different types of women, each which teach him about life. A silent film was made of this in 1928 with a change in the relationship of the characters. This film is available on DVD from Ashfault Classics, among others.

There are some differences in the novel and the film version. 

A serialized version of this story was published in the US magazine McClures, starting in October 1926, under the title The New Eve.  Under the title Doomsday, it was also serialized in weekly installments over a 3 month period in the London Daily express, ending in Oct 1926.

Another interesting artifact I've found is a leather version of the U.S. publisher Knopf's edition of this.  Other than the signed version leather version of Old Pybus that I have (described later), I know of no other leather editions of Deeping's books.   I've not seen this book, just a photo on E-bay, perhaps it is a limited signed version. 

36 Kitty-1927 - The story was described earlier in this post.  In addition to the original Knopf U.S. edition of this book, I do have a 1st edition Cassell version of it.

A film was made of this in 1929.  It is listed as the first British "Talkie" but it was silent with sound only in the last 15 minutes of it !  The film version is a bit different from the novel - Alex Greenwood marries Kitty before going to war as an infantry officer and is injured in a shell burst and returns an invalid.  However, in the film, he has not yet married Kitty when he ships out to France and is invalided in an airplane crash.

I found that Kitty also appeared in serial form from late Oct 1926 to Feb 1927 in the London Sunday Express under the title "The Stolen Son".  This was right after the conclusion of the Doomsday serial in the same newspaper.  I think this also prior to publication of the book Kitty since that was in late 1927.  Why would this be published in London 6 months or so prior to the release of the book version Kitty in October 1927 and more strangely, under a different name?  More likely, the name was changed from The Stolen Son in the serialized newspaper version to Kitty for the book to avoid confusion with the book,  Sorrell and Son.  

37 Old Pybus-1928 - A bookshop owner in London becomes estranged from his two wealthy and ambitious sons after they refused to enlist in The Great War.  As the story opens, he is now elderly and is serving as a porter in a hotel some two hours away from London.  He meets the teen-aged grandson that he never knew and they find they have a common interest in books and writing. It is not until much later that they learn they are related.

I found that this story was also offered in a serialized version in the same year as the novel in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper under the title Three Generations. In the portions I can see from Google Newspaper, it is taken directly from Old Pybus with no changes.  I'm sure it appeared in other papers.  Deeping must have done quite well in earnings from these many syndicated publications.

In the Warwick Deeping Archives at BU, I saw a hand-written, play version of this, written by Deeping and another person by the name of Gacha Licore.  There are two versions of it.  

38 Roper's Row-1929 - This is a brilliant story of the struggles of a semi-handicapped young man to become a successful MD and of the two women who are the bedrock in his life. This was also published in serialized version in Woman's Journal Magazine, Aug. 1928-Jan. 1929.

I have copy 375 out of 500 of a 1929 limited edition with leather cover and Deeping's signature on the inside cover.  This was published by Cassells and my copy is in exceptionally good condition. This leather, signed edition type of book, was only used on this one novel, as far as I can learn.  As mentioned, there was a leather edition in the U.S. of Doomsday but I don't know if it was signed.

39 Exiles-1930 - Story of a group of English exiles living in an Italian resort town of Tindaro on the Mediterranean. No doubt this is based on some town that Deeping had visited, or in which he might have had a villa. I can't find any real town by that name in Italy although he has used that town name in other short stories.  I didn't find this story particularly interesting, but it was apparently a successful novel in its time - a best seller in 1930 - based on book reviews I've read.

40 Short Stories of Warwick Deeping AKA Stories of Love, Courage, and Compassion, -1930 - Collection of 50 short stories and 3 novellas. Some have titles similar to later Deeping novels as well as character names. For instance, in Six Months to Live, there is a governess with the name of Una Summerhayes, which is similar to the name of the lead character Elsie Summerhayes, a governess in Two Black Sheep, published a few years later. In both stories, Miss Summerhayes is working for a very disagreeable character, a Mrs. Pym. In the short story there are two children, in the novel, just one.

41 The Ten Commandments AKA The Road-1931 - A young woman is paralyzed in an auto accident and the event results in a romance with a WW I veteran living nearby. She lives with her mother and sister in a house alongside a bridge on a main road to London and they run a roadside tea room (tea time, tea time !). This was published as a serialized version in the magazine Physical Culture in Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct 1931.

42 Old Wine and New-1932 - A WWI veteran in his late 30's returns to England to face the tough employment market in his field as a literary agent. He falls in love with the young daughter of a dead wartime friend and foolishly gives most of his savings to her to start a business only to have her throw him over for a younger man. After being let go from a series of minor literary editing jobs, and struggling to write a successful novel, he drifts closer and closer to homelessness. Fate brings him to take a low-cost room in a house owned by a widow who comes to believe in him and shares in his ultimate success as an author. His incredible success and riches after his first novel became a best seller were apparently based on Deeping's own experiences after Sorrell and Son.

43 Smith-1932 - A young carpenter seeks home and comforts for his new wife and child. Their future looks bright but then fate keeps him from becoming a partner in a lucrative building firm and deals even greater blow when he is diagnosed with consumption (Tuberculosis).   His life in the TB "village" was based on the real life work Deeping did with Papworth Village, a sanatorium in the 1930's in England. I've seen some advertisements and description that Deeping did for Papworth Village.  They have these artifacts along with other history of the village in their museum.   I have a copy of a 4 page essay by Deeping that was in the Papworth Village archives.  

44 Two Black Sheep-1933 - Vane is released from prison after serving a sentence for killing a man who had an affair with his wife while he was away in WW I. Of independent means, he travels around Europe to find himself. He meets a young governess who has stressful life tending to a precocious child and her critical and verbally abusive mother, Mrs. Pym. Circumstances put the governess in prison on an unjust charge and Vane works to get her release. Happy ending with a new villa overlooking the sea on the coast of France. A film was made of this, titled "Two Sinners". I've looked for a copy of this but no success. As in other film versions, some changes appear to have been made in the story line, especially the ending. 

This is a rare dust cover from the original Cassells edition of this book.  Most that you see are from the U.S. Knopf version with a different illustration.

This novel was serialized in Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan under the title "Black Sheep, Black Sheep" in the September 1932 to February 1933 editions. I have not seen this story so I can only assume it is the exact novel and not some abbreviated version or different story as with Bluewater AKA Fantasia and Paradise Incorporated.  

This novel also appeared in April 1, 1934 edition of The Philadelphia Public Ledger newspaper. This was part of "The Sunday Novel" special section of the newspaper. This was about 1 year after the book's publication so it didn't directly affect book's sales and provided more public awareness in the United States of Deeping.

  

45 The Man on the White Horse-1934 - Deeping gets diverted again with a medieval romance.  By the time I read this, I'd read a lot of Deeping but I just couldn't get past the first chapter - Maybe someday I'll try again.

46 Seven Men Came Back-1934 - Another brilliant story, this of the life of seven veterans of WW I and their struggles in adapting to civilian life in post WW I England.  A few became successful in their work, while Captain Sherridan, who had excelled in the war as a leader of men, struggled to find his place in the post-war society.  The novel was serialized in 7 monthly editions of Cosmopolitan magazine starting in Oct 1933. 

I've also seen Deeping's play version of this book in the Deeping Archives at Boston University.  The play version is undated so I don't know if it was prior to or after the book.  I also don't know if it was ever performed.  The original title was We Are Seven, then changed to Armistice and there were several versions of the play in the files.  One of them ended with Sherridan dying during one of the Armistice dinners, whereas in the novel it was Sherridan's wife who died at home.  At some time in the various versions, a co-playwriter's name was added to the play, a Maitland Davidson.   Davidson must have been a good friend as in the archives there is also a manuscript of a short story written by Marianne Davidson, presumably Maitland's wife.   It is accompanied by a rejection letter from a woman's magazine (can't remember the name) and apparently she sent it to Deeping to ask for his help in getting it published.   Update - Davidson was the family name of Deeping's paternal grandmother, so perhaps Maitland Davidson was a relative UPDATE - According to Mary Grover, Marianne Davidson was the name used by Warwick Deeping's mother for her unsuccessful attempts at publishing this short story.

47 Two In a Train and other stories-1935 - A good collection of 24 short stories. One of these, Dr. Morrow's Patient is very good with surprising ending. I found that this short story was also published in the Reading Eagle newspaper in September 1931 under the title The Quality of Mercy. I noticed that this was distributed by King Features, a syndicate that published comics in many newspapers. This suggests that Deeping's works were more widely published in USA newspapers.  I also found this story the U.S. Magazine, Pictorial Review for April and May 1931.  It must have originally appeared in a U.K. magazine, but I haven't run across it.

  

In the book, there is one story entitled Malice of Men, but no relation to the novel with the same title some 4 years later. The story Reprieve is the same name and concept as the later novel but with a different ending and different character names. The story Old Mischief is the same name as the later novel but no similarity to characters or plot. The lead story in this collection, Two in a Train was published as a short story in Pictorial Review Magazine in February 1934, a year prior to publication of the collection. 

48 Sackcloth into Silk AKA The Golden Cord-1935 - A young man grows up to become successful playwright. Diversion of sorts as he joins up to fight WWI, serves time as a prisoner of war, and of course learns scything while working on a prison farm in Germany !  This is the only Deeping novel I can recall which involves a visit to America (New York) by the characters.   The Deeping Archives at Boston University contains the original holograph manuscript of this novel.  I found later that his was published in serial form in some London newspaper under the title The Puppetmaster.

49 No Hero - This,  1936 - Dramatic story of MD, nearing age 40, who enlists in the great war, and serves in the Medical Corps, no doubt based on Deeping's own experiences.  A year later, this story appeared in many U.S. newspapers.  Here is copy of it in a September 1937 issue of San Francisco Examiner.  I didn't compare it exactly but it appears to be the entire novel.

 

 

 

50 Blind Man's Year-1937 - An airplane crashes in the secluded seaside estate of a wealthy and reclusive authoress and the young pilot is blinded by the crash. Love story follows. 

A newspaper serial version of this was published in 1938, no doubt in a large number of different papers.

51 The Woman at The Door-1937 - Wealthy author widower decides to rent an abandoned signaling tower in the woods so as to have solitude for his writing. Living next door is a woman and her abusive husband. Woman enters author's life after she kills her husband in self defense. Our hero finds a clever way to secret her out of the country for exile in Belgium. A version of this (have not seen it to know if it is complete or edited) was published in Cosmopolitan Magazine, Feb 1936.   

The Deeping Archives at Boston University has the typed manuscript of this novel.  The original title was "Two In A Tower"

52 Malice of Men-1938 - Another captivating story of an orphaned young boy who learns the construction trade and eventually becomes a very wealthy estate developer. Written in the first person, we experience the lessons in life and business learned from his wise old mentor (No Shoddy!), and his love of the wife of his lifelong enemy.  A dramatic conclusion with a fight to the death at the Rocher De La Vierge,  described elsewhere in this post.  One of Deeping's top five, and if I had to pick a #1, it would be this one.

53 Fantasia AKA Bluewater -1939 - This novel evolved from a 17 chapter, 50,000 word novel first published in the May 1934 edition of Redbook Magazine. The 1934 version in Redbook was titled Paradise Incorporated.  Both versions concern life in Bluewater, a futuristic community on the sea coast of Sussex designed by Seigfried Mallison, a wealthy, liberal minded author.  Bluewater looks perfect, but underneath the veneer are the usual human stories.  The story lines are very different between the two works, and although some of the character's names are the same, they appear with different personalities in the two versions. 

In the 1939 novel, Siegfried Mallison is the wealthy creator of Bluewater and plays a key part in the entire story. In the earlier Paradise Incorporated, it's related at the beginning of the story that he developed Bluewater but died in an automobile accident and that is the only mention of him.

Richard Jekyl is an extremely wealthy man in his mid 40's in both novels but his relationship to the community is completely different in the two stories. In Paradise Incorporated, he purchases Moor Manor, the former home of Mallison and then later, purchases the entire Bluewater community for 20,000 pounds.  In Bluewater, he has a confrontation with Mallison, the owner of the Bluewater community, and then decides to start his own back-to-the land farm nearby. A few other characters appear with the same names in both novels, but with different roles and actions. Having first read Bluewater, the novel,it was a "twilight-zone" experience to read Paradise Incorporated and see the same characters appear but with different behaviors.

The appearance of a near full length novel in a periodical was puzzling to me. In the year of its publication, 1934, Deeping was already extremely wealthy since it was 8 years after his major success with Sorrell and Son.  By 1934, he had nine follow-on best selling novels, and tremendous number of sales of reprints of his 33 earlier works.  Why he would have published a new, near book-length story in a US periodical is an interesting question as you wouldn't think the payment for such a work could equal what he would have earned by publishing it directly.  It's possible that this story and other near full length novels published in magazines were part of his marketing strategy.  Perhaps buyers of books and readers of fiction magazines were two separate groups with little overlap.  Thus Redbook readers who knew nothing of Deeping would read this story and want to read more of his other books.

The Deeping Archives at Boston University contain a typed version of chapters VI to XVI of Bluewater with the alternate U.K title of Fantasia.   It doesn't seem to correspond to the text in my copy of Bluewater.   There is a section with Mr. Berryman, who only appears in the Paradise Incorporated story, so this is apparently a manuscript of the early form of Fantasia.

   

Update - I found even more twists to this story.  About 1 year after the publication of Paradise Incorporated in Redbook,  Deeping published a revision of this in the English periodical Weldon's Ladies Journal.  This version was now titled Bluewater, but was nothing like the later novel Bluewater, other than the setting in the seaside town.  The Weldon's Ladies Journal version was presented in 12 installments from April 1935 to March 1936.  This story begins very much the same as Paradise Incorporated with only some additions and revisions.  By the time of the 3rd installment in the June 1935 edition, Deeping begins to make very major changes, introducing new characters and changing the actions of some of the existing characters.  I noticed he also toned down some of the language for use in the more conservative English publication as compared with that in the U.S. version of Paradise Incorporated. For example, the word "Damn" was replaced with "Blasted."

For magazine collectors, these issues of this magazine are quite unique.  A feature of the magazine was the inclusion in each issue of dress patterns!  For someone that wants to accurately recreate clothing from 1935, this is one way. The patterns are complete with instructions and type of material to buy.  I have seen some of these magazines and a few of them still have the unused patterns attached.  The condition, is good, I think they could easily be used.

54 Shabby Summer AKA Folly Island -1939 - A struggling landscaping nursery owner fights to keep his business alive during a severe summer drought. His wealthy neighbor plots to drive him out of business so as to purchase the nursery land at a low price.  Beautiful woman takes up residence across the river on Folly Island, adding spice to the story. Its been reported that Deeping modeled the story after a nursery owner that he knew and used to furnish his own large garden at his home, Eastlands.  I found that Folly Island was also serialized in newspapers. I found it in the September 1940 issues of The Milwaukee Journal.

55 The Man Who Went Back  - 1940 - Deeping can't get away from ancient days romances ! In this novel, a modern man is injured in an auto accident and mysteriously wakes up in Roman times in England. Only after he is killed in a battle, does he wake up again in the present.  I slogged through this one only because of the contemporary age beginning and ending. This was also published in a Science Fiction magazine, Amazing Adventures in the 1940s under the same title.  It appears to have the complete novel which was only possible because of the very small type font used in the magazine.

In the Deeping Archive's at Boston University, the archivist has incorrectly listed this as an unpublished novel. Deeping's holograph of this has the title Twilight of The Gods over the cross-out  I Who was Dead.    The final published title of The Man Who Went Back doesn't appear on the holograph.

56. The Dark House-1941 - Story of John Richmond, a young MD.  In his last months of training at a London hospital, he lends all his capital to start his own practice to his older brother, who assures him it is only for a temporary loan to cover an investment that will double his money.  His brother, trying to cover a gambling debt, loses all the money, commits suicide, and leaves Dr. Richmond destitute.  With no funds to start his own practice, he has to struggle as the low paid and overworked junior partner in an established practice in the coastal town of Southfleet (modeled after Deeping's birthplace, Southend). He continues to overcome obstacles and advances in the practice but success and his marriage are almost destroyed by a meaningless affair with the hot blooded young wife of one of his elderly patients.  A ruthless competitor submits an anonymous complaint to the MD licensing board advising of the Dr. Richmond's improper behavior. 

The Deeping Archives at Boston University has the original holograph and some typed copies of versions with several different endings.  They all seem to have the same overall outcome as in the final published novel, e.g. Dr. Richmond is not investigated by the MD licensing board for his affair with the wife of his patient.  This is one of Deeping's top 5 novels, in my opinion.  

57 Corn in Egypt-1942 - Written in the first person, an accountant receives an inheritance and abandons city life to take up life on Blackthorn Farm, a place with a sad past. Fate brings along Will Lavender, a 50ish man of the land who teaches Correy how to run a farm. Prince Charles, the Cairn terrier, brings love and happiness. Chance meeting with daughter of the former owner leads to a romance. Set in early 20s to early part of WW II with farm life looking like the right choice for survival in the midst of WWII food and supply shortages.  In Deepings's top five, in my opinion.   

   

The Deeping Archive has the original holograph of this novel, but it starts late in the book.  There is an original holograph of a short story Deeping had written that was the first few chapters of the novel.  This short story was titled Blackthorn Farm or an Amateur in Arcady.  He used this short story for the beginning of the book.  I've never seen any record that this short story was published independently.

58 I Live Again-1942 - A collection of different tales with the character being reincarnated in each one to appear as different entity in the next story. An Interesting concept to weave four medium length stories together along with a short summary at the end.  Each of these stories has a titled :  They are - Passion, Power, Progress and Priggery, and The Joy of Being.  The short conclusion is named Afterwards.   

In the Deeping Archives, the archivist mistakenly lists the first four handwritten manuscripts as unpublished novels.  

59 Slade-1943 - Middle aged James Slade, out of prison for embezzlement, arrives in Southfleet to be porter in a rooming house owned by his now wealthy, but bitter wife. He finds he has a young daughter he never knew and that his wife insists the child not know Slade as the father. Cowered by the shame of his past, and constantly threatened to be exposed by his wife for his misdeeds, he submits to the ordeal in order to be able to see his daughter grow up. His good deeds to others are rewarded and eventually Slade finds happiness. In my list of Deeping's top 5.   

The Deeping Archives contain the original holograph of this novel.

60 Mr. Gurney and Mr. Slade AKA The Cleric's Secret-1944 - As a follow on novel of Slade, a redeemed James Slade helps a new Cleric, Mr. John Gurney, overcome his own past.  Gurney becomes a hero when he becomes a Padre with troops in WW I.   It has a chapter taken from a short story that Deeping wrote many years earlier, "The Padre's Tea-Pot".  In this, the padre innocently braves shellfire to bring a replacement teapot to the soldiers in a forward camp.  He carries the teapot under his helmet to protect it.

The Deeping Archives contain the original holograph of this novel. The original title was Father John.  There is another short story that I've found in a periodical, titled Father Teapot that seems to be a true description of Deeping's friendship with a Catholic priest who served as a padre in Deeping's ambulance corp.  In this essay he tells of the original incident in which the padre carries the teapot in his helmet.

61 The Impudence of Youth-1945 - Somewhat of a replay of Ropers Row, in that we have a brilliant, but "different" orphaned medical student struggling to achieve success with the help of his Aunt and an understanding wife. James Pope achieves great wealth after he gives up his professional MD license to enter the "patent" medicine field to get the funds to save his dying wife. I have a 1st edition copy of this that was published by Cassell's division in Melbourne, Australia. 

The Deeping Archives contain the original holograph of this novel.

62 Reprieve-1945 - A wealthy businessman is misdiagnosed with terminal cancer and goes on a 6 months end of life tour in Europe to get away from his oppressive wife and children. While on the trip, he meets a young woman and romance ensues.  It is set in pre-WW II Europe and descriptions of Germany are interesting, especially Nuremberg, a city Deeping apparently visited, as have my wife and I. Surprise! The diagnosis of his impending death was wrong but he decides his new love is vastly superior to old wife.    The Deeping Archives contain the original holograph of this novel.  The original title that was crossed out was Six Months To Live.    Six Months to Live was also the title of a short story of similar plot (but with many differences) that appeared in various magazines as well as his book The Short Stories of Warwick Deeping AKA Stories of Love, Courage, and Compassion.

63 Laughing House-1947 - Story of a large estate, Beech House, during WW II, as it is requisitioned by the Army for use as a lodging facility and then ultimately returned to the owner who converts it to a hotel.  Parts of the story are very similar to Corn in Egypt and The Old World Dies in regards to discussions of farm life and preparing for the shortages during WW II.    

The Deeping Archives contain the original holograph of this novel as well as the galley proofs.

64 Portrait of a Playboy AKA The Playboy-1947 - Life of a wealthy playboy artist who has a devious Italian housekeeper.  The Deeping Archives contain the original holograph of this novel.

65 Paradise Place-1949 - A young man fabricates his death while on a trip to France so as to free his young wife in London from his business failures. He resurfaces years later in England as a herbalist in one of the houses in Paradise Place, a low-rent lane in London. It is home to 14 other characters who all provide some part of the story. A chance sighting of his former wife, now married to a cold, aloof, University professor, leads to a predictable conclusion.

In the Deeping archives, we see an alternate title of Highbury Hill and Second Marriage as well as several versions of the novel with some chapters not included in the published version.  I didn't have time to read them in any detail to decide what had changed.

POSTHUMOUS PUBLICATION

The following novels were published after his death in April 1950. What a prolific writer to have 7 novels written and not yet published.

66 Old Mischief-1950 - Old Mischief is an 80ish, wealthy author, who mentors a young artist and his wife. He is also friends with Tom Greenwood, the gardener of a large estate who encounters problems when the estate is taken over by a new owner.

The Deeping Archives contain the original holograph of this novel. 

67 Time to Heal-1952 - Very similar theme as in Malice of Men, with lead character in love with the abused wife of his lifelong enemy. Dramatic conclusion with a pistol duel to the death, with Deeping's trademark of good overcoming evil.  Also a father - son MD theme.

In the Deeping Archives, the handwritten manuscript originally had the title  I Kill.   Deeping crossed this out and replaced it with the final title.  

68 Man in Chains-1953 - A disabled ex-army pilot struggles to live with his back injury while running his orchard. Two women, with radically different personalities, compete for his affection. 

Although not published until 1953, it was apparently completed by April 1947.  In the Deeping Archives, there is contained a letter from his agent (didn't record the name), dated April 21 1947 about The Man in Chains.  She states that " A copy of it being sent to you.  And all the good luck to it on the book side."    

69 The Old World Dies-1954 - A relatively short (160 page) diary of a wealthy estate owner during early phases of WWII. Very similar concept to that of the 1942 novel, Corn in Egypt, with respect to descriptions of farming and storing of reserve food and material in anticipation of the WW II.    

The Deeping Archives at Boston University contain some of the original holographs of this novel (pages 1-84, 181-227, and 232-284) and also some typewritten pages.  The title was originally Diary of a Dotard and then changed to Death in the Garden.   There is text in the original manuscript that did not appear in the novel and the ending in the holograph manuscript is different than the novel.  On the ending page of the holograph, Page 284, it begins the sentence " She plays me Chopin ..." , and ends with  " ....  Salute to the tree goddess Fortuna a Pomana! "   

None of this appears in the book and since it was published after Deeping's death, an editor decided what to use and what to delete.  I always felt the story ended abruptly and was missing something - this confirms it.   

70 Caroline Terrace-1955 - Deeping goes way back to the 1890s with a story of young Cleric and his romantic interest with a misunderstood young woman at rooming house on the coast at Southfleet (modeled after his home town of Southend).  In this story, Deeping writes in many details of the city during the time of his boyhood at Southend.

In the Deeping Archives, the original manuscript was titled Isabell.   There is also a sheet of paper in which he has listed the names of the occupants of the rooming house along with story notes.

71 The Serpents Tooth-1956 - another Father-Son MD theme, this time with a Bluewater type character in the form of a Bohemian style author. I suspect the author was based on someone in life that Deeping disliked intensely as with the author character in Bluewater.  This may have been George Orwell, or Steven McKenna as both had made public statements critical of Deeping's success as an author.

In the Deeping Archives, the original manuscript has the title Prometheus that was then changed to Cad's Progress.  I never saw Deeping's change to The Serpents Tooth in the manuscript, no doubt an editor made that change.

72 The Sword and the Cross-1957 - I was disappointed to see that this last novel published, was not, in my opinion, Deeping's Magnus Opus. It is another somewhat tedious (to me) medieval romance.  Either Deeping decided to return to his roots for his last work, or this was a much earlier work that had been set aside after he found the greater public acceptance of his contemporary stories. 

Another explanation is that some editor decided in which order to publish these posthumous novels and used those in which someone had already transcribed to type from his difficult to read handwriting.

In the Deeping Archives, there is only a carbon copy typed version of The Sword and The Cross, with no date on it, so the year that he wrote this is unknown.   As I may have mentioned, none of the original works in the Archives were ever dated.

The "Lost Novels".   

As will be detailed later, Volume VII and Volume VIII of the Lost Stories series that I assembled, contains four, never previously published novels of Warwick Deeping as well as two other lengthy works (an autobiography and a "travel guide" of Surrey).  I've had these for some time after they were sent to me by a WD collector in the U.K. (now deceased) who obtained copies of them in some manner in the early 1960's before the death of WD's wife, Maude Deeping.  I was asked to not publish them until the expiration of all worldwide copyrights in 2021.

A summary of the four novels:

Volume VII

Apple Trees - Set in the period just prior to WWII, it has a theme similar to Corn in Egypt.   William Wynter, seeking a quiet life after his brush with death in the Spanish civil war, purchases an abandoned apple orchard with a small farmhouse.  His struggles to restore the orchard as a profitable endeavor makes an interesting story.  It has the usual romantic relationships with Wynter meeting a young woman who had been orphaned and then raised by her psychotic aunt.   

Beauty and The Beast - Set after WWII, a wealthy artist, Robert Byron, meets a mysterious woman who comes to work as a hostess at a country inn that has been opened just down the road from his home.  It is narrated in the first person by Robert Byron, but throughout the novel, Deeping places narration in the first person by Isolda Mallory, the woman whose life and past life become intertwined with Robert Byron.  No other Deeping novels have ever used this first person narration by two separate characters.

I think this is one of Deeping's best works and was quite surprised to first read it and was perplexed as to why it had not been published posthumously as with seven other Deeping works.  My copy was in Deeping's quite difficult to read cursive and it took some time to convert to type.  Without the internet, it would have been very difficult to determine some of the names and places of what were then current events that he wove into the story.   

Volume VIII

Fog.   A story of a young schoolboy, Georgie Gregson, and his encounters with a German spy who is trying to steal the secrets of a new gasoline engine being developed by one of young Gregson's neighbors in the Sussex Terrace section of London.  Other than the German spy aspect, the tale closely mirrors much of Deeping's own personal life as a child when he was sent to board with a family while attending Merchant Taylors school in London.  Warwick Deeping's, first name is actually George, and as a child, he was known as Georgie, the same name as this character in Fog.  

The Man Who Ran Away.  A very long novel (40 chapters) featuring a medical doctor, Magnus Magnal.  After a public defrocking because of a supposed affair with two different woman patients, he takes his wealth and retires to a small isolated community in the mid of England.  He purchases an entire village that had been abandoned for years due to lack of water in the brook and wells in the village.  While conducting some excavation of Roman ruins on the property, he alters the geology enough that the spring that was supplying water resumes flowing.   

His quiet, isolated life is changed by the arrival of Bob, the dog.  In the middle of a snowstorm, a mysterious woman with a past, discovers him seriously ill and alone with a starving Bob in his snowbound cottage, miles from any help.  She nurses him though the crisis and becomes his housekeeper.  Later, a 12 year old child, Joanna Foster, who has run away from an orphanage, arrives and becomes part of the family.   As the years go by, a young philandering poet, Mr. Hubert Blore, wanders by and attracted by the now mature and lovely Joanna, causes a major upset in the harmony of the family.   

In the handwritten script, Deeping wrote two endings for the final chapter with completely different outcomes for Joanna.  Since this novel was never published, it will remain a mystery as to which one he would have used.  Both endings are contained in Volume VIII.

Simple Simon.  This is Deeping's autobiography detailing his life up until the time he entered Trinity University.  

Surrey Scene.   Written at the end of WWII as travel restrictions were lifted, it is a semi-fictional account of many of the places around Deeping's home in Surrey.  It is written in the first person by a person with the first name of John, whose wife Stella has been blinded during a bomb attack in London.   

John is an author and decides to take Stella on an automobile tour of the Surrey countryside, so he can produce a sort of travel guide as well as visit all the places that he and Stella had been denied due to war travel restrictions.  It mostly concerns their day trips which spread over many weeks to different old homes and gardens in Surrey.  

It runs 15 chapters and unfortunately, appears to end with some unanswered questions regarding the last old home that they investigate near the town of Old Woking.   Most all of the homes and gardens he describes are still there, as evidenced by some internet research, though many of the roads and lanes they traveled have been rerouted or turned into major motorways.   He interjects much of his personal knowledge of the history of Surrey into the story.   Not surprisingly, John and Stella meet the famous author, Warwick Deeping, who gives them a tour of his own home and garden in Weybridge.

NON-FICTION BOOK 

 

St. Johns Parish Church of Southend-on-Sea   This is a 23 page booklet of recollections of Southend On Sea that Deeping wrote in 1943. It wasn't published until after his death in 1950.  It is the history of the Church that, as a boy, he and his family attended in his hometown of Southend.  It also has many stories of his childhood and some photos of his father. Many of his books had references to a fictional Southfleet that was modeled after Southend.   This booklet is rare. 

There is no copyright on this and I might include portions of the stories of Deeping's childhood in a Volume IX.      

OTHER BOOKS WITH DEEPING STORIES

Some of Deeping's short stories appeared in books published by others. These books were collections of short stories of various authors. Deeping's short stories in these books were reprints of those previously published in magazines or in other Deeping books.  Here are the ones I've found, no doubt there are more.

1. Martyrdom - This is one of three short novels in Readers Library with the other two stories from other authors.  This story concerns a young girl who is married to an aged doctor who keeps her confined in his large seaside home.  By chance she meets a younger man who is swimming in the surf.  This book was published in 1929 and later reissued as Three Stories of Romance in 1936.  This story was first published in The New Magazine for August 1923.  UPDATE I found the first version of this collection was in 1925 and published as Three New Love Stories. 

 

For completeness of all of his magazine stories in the Lost Stories collection, I placed this in Volume VIII.

2. The Forbidden Woman - one of 18 stories in The Times Red Cross Story Book published in 1917. This was a collection of stories by famous novelists who, like Deeping, were also serving in the British Armed Forces during WWI. This story was originally published in The Story-Teller magazine in February 1914. In the republished story in the 1917 book, the editors left out some paragraphs as well as deleting words like "devil" and replacing with "brute" !

 
3. A Christmas Victory - one of the stories in Fireside Omnibus, a collection of 52 stories from different authors, all with a Christmas theme. This story originally published in The Strand Magazine, in Dec 1934.   

4. Rome in AD1842. Deeping contributed this along with other authors in Eyewitness to History published in 1941. This story is an excerpt of the last chapter of The Lame Englishman. 

5. Miss Smith. Published in The Homeland Book of Stories, by The British Empire Publishing Company. This is a collection of short stories from 37 authors, including this one by Deeping. No copyright date but listed as "Christmas 1916" it contains the story of the same name from The New Magazine of October 1915. 

 6. Man and The New Medusa. An Essay contained in the 1928 edition of The European Scrap Book, a collection of articles and essays from other magazines. In this case, the book notes say Deeping's essay was originally published in The Forum Magazine, no date given.   I've found it was January 1928 and the title in Forum Magazine was "Our Wiser Daughters"

7. Girl on The Mountain. This story is contained in Great Stories of Love and Romance. I don't know the year of publication or number of other authors in it but a book seller confirmed this is the title of the story. This story is from Deeping's book Countess Glika and also appeared in The Story-Teller for November 1914.

8. Girl on The Mountain.  Another appearance of this story is contained in the 1024 page, Holiday Book for 1934 by Odham Press.  They even used this again in 1935 in the 736 page, The Big Book of Great Short Stories.

9. The Coward.  This short story is in the British Girl's Annual for 1921.   This collection of stories by Deeping and others was published by Cassells, so it isn't surprising something from Deeping would be in here.  The Coward was originally published 10 years earlier in the April 1911 edition of Cassell's Magazine of Fiction.  

THE PERIODICAL SERIES

After I completed my book collection, I became aware of large number of Deeping's short stories that were published in British fiction magazines.  He did publish several books that were collections of short stories but these in the fiction magazines were original ones that were never published in book form.

I've found that from about 1903 to at least 1947, Deeping published over 200 of these original short stories and short novels in various U.S., Canadian, and U.K. periodicals.  His primary publications were Cassell's Magazine of Fiction, The New Magazine, The Story-Teller, The Corner, The Grand, and The Quiver.  He was also in many U.S. magazines, such as Cosmopolitian, Pictorial Review, Good Housekeeping, and Redbook.   Most of the stories in the U.S. magazines were reprints of those in his books or re-titled ones of those appearing in U.K fiction magazines.

See the sidebar !  This has turned into a massive undertaking with over 200 of these now collected into eight volumes over 600 pages each.   Finding these stories involved locating sources of the original magazines, many of which are quite obscure. 

I was assisted in this very massive research and collection effort by Debra Buchholtz, Ph.D. in Oxford, England.   I have copyright approval by the Deeping estate to publish these, so these are now available worldwide via Amazon US and Amazon Europe.

There will also be more volumes.  From our research, we know of 5 or so additional titles yet to be found.  Because Warwick Deeping left no detailed list of his stories or of his magazine publications, finding the publications containing the remaining stories is solving a very challenging puzzle. 

Update - As of Summer 2024, there are now Volumes VII - IX !!   Four complete, never published, full length novels are included plus 4 partially completed novels with Deeping's notes.

His use of alternate titles is the common issue.  Dr. Buchholtz and I knew there was a title of a novella called Ace of Hearts and finally located a source in a rare 1921 edition of Cassell's Winter Annual.   This story was found to be the same as Broken Wings that we'd found earlier in our search.  This appeared in The New Magazine for May 1926.

Here is a list of the stories in these eight volumes in the "Lost Stories" series.  I have no idea why he never had these published in book collections as he did with some of his many of his other short stories.  There are some very good ones in this list as well as near book length novels (novellas) and now they are available for anyone to read.  . 

Link to Amazon for these Volumes

Now Available ! Lower Cost E-Book versions in .pdf form are available from Expert Technology Studios LLC. Delivered as .pdf files to your email.
 

VOLUME I

A Lucky Accident

Failure

The House That Fought

Mr. Yens Debt 

The Other Man’s Burden ( novella)  

The Redemption of John Benham 

The Tennis Court  

Kitty Sees The World  

The Jade Green Dress

Scarlet

Thomas

The Poacher

Mr. Veroness' Socks

The Transformation of Thomas Ritton

Miss Smith

The Mill Pool

The Bridge of Pain

Oriana of the Bungalow

Obsession

The Empty Car

An Ordeal Of Faith

A Matter Of Money

The Mark of The Branding Iron

Hunger and Two Golden Salvers

The Forbidden Woman

The Little Fop

The Blind Marriage

The Saving of a Husband

In the Days of Terror

The Real Article

Benjamin Comes Back

Veronique

A Rose of Picardy

That Letter !

Three Lives

The Conscientious Objector

The Two Bombs

What every soldier Knows

Funky Phil

The Living Death

Twice Broken

No. 1063 Company

VOLUME  II

Courage

The Black Spider

The Things That Matter ( novella)

England

" Plunder "

Renunciation

Mike's Father

Art And The Man

Youth

The Soul Of An Englishman

The Wander Spirit

Mellisanda
The Bunch Of Violets ( novella)

The Coquette

The Two Shepards

The Highwayman

The Woman With The Wig
The Disappearance of Capt. Jelllicoe
Dynamite
No Money In It
Sappho
Gull Point
The Raiders
The Deserter
Missing
Sergeant Bliss
The Deserted Village
Pauline
Tod Explodes
The Fever Of Youth ( Novella)
The Boredom Of Lord Seth
Joan Hurd
The Eagle's Claw
Two Women
Mother Corot Intervenes
The Girl With The Basket
The Gleaning Of Ruth Venner
Crossed Purposes And Crossed Swords
The Return Of The Pilgrim
   

VOLUME  III

The Green Snake

The Mother ( novella)
A Night Adventure
Flogged Through the Fleet

The Discovery of Diana

Pride and The Woman

Number 35

At School

Blind Love

The Face That Did Not Fade

The Portrait

The Yellow Pierrot

That Greek Island

The Romantic Young Woman

The Pride Of The Mericourts

Gaspard Duclair

The Yellow House With The White Steps

Valour (novella – many differences from long novel published in book form)

Trelawney's Z Rays

The Sleeping Beauty

The Unexpected Face

Sheik Jahir

The Heart of Tua the Princess

The Sacred Snakes

The Ghost Knight

Cynewulf the Saxon

Barbe of the Black Hair

Mellis

The Black Death

The Secret Orchard

St. Stephen's Eve

Sword Before Tongue

Millicent

The Pool In The Forest

Tiphane La Fee

The Coward

Tristan Of The Red Shield

VOLUME IV

Sorrell Plays Lancelot
The Love Story Of Cherry
Jilly
An Old Woman
The Grave In The Garden
Which ?  (That is the actual title with the question mark)
Conflict
Poor Mr. Mortimer
The Power Of Concrete Things
The Smiling Bronze
Transfiguration
Rescue
Pride's Pawnbroker
The Island
The Mysterious Mr. Brown
The Pharaoh
The Sun Lady
Ishmael
Mr. Indifference
That One-Legged Devil
The Golden Bull (novella)
Something Doing
Two Old Men
Speed
The Prince On Hire
Twins
The Child and The Man
Uncle Gee Whiz
The Rejuvenation Of Raxby
The Woman's Part        (a precusor story to the novel Doomsday)
The Ace Of Hearts  AKA Broken Wings (novella)
The Exile
Robin Hood
Jim and Bill
Merrow's Wife
I Can 'Op It
The Secret Wife
Two Innocents
Life's Three Best Things (essay)
Can Married Happiness Endure ?  (essay)
What is Ahead of A Young Man Today?  (essay)
Marriage Under The Microscope (essay)
A Plain Talk (essay)
Spirit Of Christmas (essay)

VOLUME V

October

A Christmas Victory

Apple Tree Farm

Miss Jeudwine and Miss Jacks

Partner Wanted 

Paradise Incorporated (novella)

The Madness of Martin Gould

Zachary Goes To America

The Greater Courage (novella)

The Ghost in the Villa

The Green Caravan

The Man Who Had Blundered

The Professor at Greenwater Mill

The Professor and The Hermit

The Professor Spoils A Romance

The Padre’s Tea-Pot

Woman's Natural Vanity

The Whistling Troubadour (novella)

Footprints in the Snow

"Jellaby"

All In 

The Mysterious Cosmo Bellairs

Suvla John (novella)

Youth and Mr. Lovelace

Mixed Mates

The Wheel of Life

Out of the Past 

Three Fools  

Veal And Mutton

The Old Eagle

The Bird Of Prey

Is Modern Youth Spoilt ?  (essay)

At What Age Is Woman At Her Best ?  (essay)

Down With The Fussers ! (essay)

My Advice To A Girl of Seventeen (essay)

Father and Son (essay)

VOLUME VI

Dr. Carfax’s Case 

The Valetudinarians

The Bay Of Forgetfulness

The Man Who Hunted Big Game

The Holiday Of A Dream

Bluewater (An update with more characters and scenes of Paradise Incorporated)

On The Cinematograph

Dukie

The Case Of John Stretton

Father Teapot

The Celebrity

Under Roman Cypresses

A Chance Partnership

The House Of Adventure

Paul Saratof Discovers Himself

When Strength Returns

Thank God For A Few Dukes !

The Little Thing

The Rescue

Miss Bethel Loses her Temper

Between Two Fires

The Dilemma

A Strange Illness

The following selections in Vol VI are essays:

Peace Of Mind

Two Garden Pests

Home Versus Hotel

Over The Back Fence

Death By The Way

The Man Nobody Loves

The Feel of Things

These Mannerless People

My Faith In Woman

Our Wiser Daughters

Let Us Learn The Art of Loafing

The Little Man’s Opportunity

The Happy Marriage

The Imitation Boy

Confessions

Abnormalities

A Signpost To Youth

Potatoes Will Save England

I Was Twenty Years Old Once Myself
What Is The Key To Making The Best Of Life ?

VOLUME VII

Yew Tree Farm

Woman At The Gate

Martyrdom

Apple Trees  (A complete, never published novel)

Beauty And The Beast  (A complete, never published novel)

Life - And Hope

Sane Words To A Mad World

VOLUME VIII

A Night of Surprises

Fog  (A complete, never published novel)

The Man Who Ran Away (A complete, never published novel)

Simple Simon 

The Surrey Scene

If I married Again

World of the Unborn

Love and Law

Putting The World Right

Setting A Trap For Happiness

Thank You Mr. Hitler

The Cult Of The Early Potato

VOLUME IX

The Tyrant (Incomplete novel but with notes)

The Man With the Crooked Face (Incomplete novel but with notes)

The Man Who Was Bored (Incomplete novel but with notes)

The Red Book (A complete set of notes and some dialog for a novella)

Revenge - A Cavalier's Dream  (Full length, never published novel written very early in Deeping's career )

Sorrell and Son - The Play

UPDATE ON VOL VII, VOL VIII and VOL IX

It took a while to find and assemble the content for these three volumes.  

In our research at British Library, we thought we'd reviewed every single copy of The Story Teller Magazine.  Unexpectedly, I found a photo of the May 1932 edition and it showed that a Deeping story was present!   In looking back at our notes, the May 1932 edition was not viewed in our research since the British Library had it restricted for viewing due to its poor condition.  At the time, the curator said there was NO Deeping story in it, but there WAS one, as evidenced by the front cover photo I found.  After much persuasion with the new curator in the periodical section at BL, they graciously (for a price) made a copy of the story from their microfilm copy made in 1970 (before the condition was too bad to allow viewing).  The title is "Woman At the Gate" and it is a LONG one, running over 60 book pages which puts it in the category of a novella.  Based on the title and the time period, at first I thought it might be a precursor of his novel "Woman at the Door" which was published two years later in 1934. It is, but only very very slightly.  Both stories center around the romance that ensues between a visitor to a small town who encounters the wife of an abusive husband.  But the differences are significant and it is a good story.  

 

As mentioned earlier, Volumes VII and VIII contain a total of FOUR complete, never published novels from Warwick Deeping.  Volume IX contains 4 partially complete novels along with Deeping's notes which provide the clues on how they are to be completed.   

My copies came from a collector (now deceased) in the U.K. who had been permitted to make copies of the original handwritten manuscripts in the mid 60s.  Before his demise, he provided me with copies with the caveat that they not be published until after all Warwick Deeping copyrights expired in 2021.   

Volume IX also contains a full length very early novel that was written while Deeping was still a medical student.

Their titles are

The Man With the Crooked Face - Set in the Mid 1700's, Sir Richard Mallerson lives a secluded life in his large estate, with only his dog and a few male servants.   All females have been banned.  We learn he has been horribly disfigured from a cannon ball during the Battle of Blenheim.  His wife, Lady Chellwood was unable to live with his disfigurement and after some philandering with other men, has left to live in her own estate at Chellwood.  Apparently there are other reasons for her anger with Sir Richard Mallerson and we learn she is plotting to continue to cause problems in his life.  

A young girl, Griselda, comes to Chellwood as a servant and Lady Chellwood attempts to use Griselda's beauty to taunt Sir Richard Mallerson.  The story comes to an end at Chapter 12 after Griselda returns from her first visit to the Mallerson estate.  Either the remaining pages of the manuscript were lost or Deeping put it aside and never returned to it.   However, he does leave 3 pages of notes that suggest a smallpox epidemic will surface in the area and Lady Chellwood will become disfigured while Griselda and Sir Richard strike up a romance.

The Man Who Was Bored - Set in the mid-30's, a wealthy automobile manufacturing executive seeks an escape from his busy and demanding life.  He plans a new community along an isolated sea coast in England and encounters resistance from the local powers.  The draft manuscript stops at Chapter 18, but Deeping leaves notes detailing how all the issues will be resolved.   The concept is a bit like Bluewater.

The Tyrant - Based on the handwriting style, this was written early in Deeping's career, circa 1910.  It is incomplete, but the portions that exist are an excellent, well developed story of a previously wealthy land owner and his comely daughter, who because of crop failures, are now indebted to a ruthless local lawyer, Mr. Bawtrey.  Lawyer Bawtrey has a mortgage on the estate and is attempting to foreclose on the estate. 

A stranger arrives in the area on a bicycle tour and happens to meet Marjory Rausaue and her father, Peter Rausaue.   The story ends at Chapter 12 just after a fire destroys the Rausaue's harvested hay crop and Peter Rasusaue has learned of the failure of the local bank that has all his cash.  The last page of Chapter 12 is severely damaged by water and most likely the remaining chapters were lost and Deeping abandoned it. 

We don't know the ending, but in typical Deeping fashion, is is quite likely that the stranger will be of assistance in saving the farm from foreclosure and develop a romance with Marjory.  

It is possible that, rather than rewrite the damaged part after Chapter 12, Deeping took the concept and created a short story.   In the same time frame, Deeping wrote a short story, The Lucky Accident, that is contained in Volume I of the Lost Stories series.  

In this short story, there is the same Mr. Bawtrey who is attempting to foreclose on the farm of Rose Furnival and her father.   A motorcycle rider is injured in an accident and taken in by the Furnivals while he recovers from his broken leg.  He learns of their problems with Mr. Bawtrey and while there happens to see a rare painting in their parlor.  Unknown to them, it is very valuable and since he also happens to be an art dealer, he takes it to London and at auction it sells for a sum more than adequate to satisfy the mortgage.

The Red Book - 11 pages of notes of an outline and some dialog of a contemporary novella involving John Massingham and his fiancee and a diary left by his mother.  The diary contains damaging details of political intrigue in the British Parliament that will destroy the career of John Massingham and his mentor.  His jealous fiancee lets the diary fall into the hands of a man who hates and has vowed to destroy John Massingham.

A  Cavalier's Romance - This is a full length novel (26 chapters) and was dated March 1897.  This is the only original Deeping manuscript I've seen that is dated and the date places it at the beginning of Deeping's writing career at age 20, when he was still at Trinity College.  His first published novel, Uther and Ingraine, wasn't until 6 years later.  This story is another of his medieval romances and has the usual battles with knights and saving of damsels in distress.  It is complete, but some parts appear to be disconnected and missing in context with the proceeding sections.  Apparently the draft copy was as far as it progressed and Deeping never completely proofed it.    

Sorrell and Son - The Play.   This may have been the original screenplay for the picture version of the book or was written only for presentation in the London theater.  

OTHER FINDINGS

I also found a story in a listing in E-Bay.  At first, I thought it was new to me, but I found it was in my Volume II.   The Woman with the Wig was in Cassell's Magazine in 1917 but this reprint of it was in 1925.   It is interesting.  It was put out by Lifebuoy Soap and is 16 pages and was probably a promo piece included when you bought a large box of soap.  It had six bidders!  They can't be WD fans so it must be people who collect these promo items from the 1920s. Fortunately, I didn't need this to get this story, as it sold for $35.00.

Deeping appeared in a few obscure magazines.   Here is one from 1932 entitled "The Help Yourself" Annual.  This was a fundraiser for a London Hospital.  The story in this is one that was in one of his book collections, "Out of The Sea". 

SCHOLARLY RESEARCH

For her Ph.D. dissertation, Mary Grover, Ph.D., published a comprehensive study of Deeping in 2008, "The Ordeal Of Warwick Deeping: Middlebrow Authorship and Cultural Embarrassment". It has much additional information that I did not know and have not necessarily included here.  It is a worthwhile addition to any Deeping collector's library. 

If not for Mary's assistance, I'd have never located the Warwick Deeping copyright holder (name not disclosed for privacy reasons), and was then able to get permission to publish the "Lost Stories" collection.

AN INTERESTING COLLECTION OF LETTERS

In 2017, a book seller listed a collection of 21 letters written and received by Deeping just before his death in 1950.   It reveals he was working with someone on a screen play of Blind Man's Year.  Also we learn that Deeping had suffered a stroke in February of 1949.    There are other interesting facts disclosed as you can read in the synopsis provided by the seller below.  This might be a nice collection of letters to own but not at the asking price of $680!

Information as provided by the bookseller: 21 items. In good condition, lightly aged, held together with a brass stud. Deeping's eight items of correspondence - all signed 'Warwick Deeping' - total 9pp. His wife's three letters total 4pp. One of Deeping's letters is in its envelope, addressed by him to 'Miss Margaret Greenwood | 15 Horsham Road | Bexleyheath | Kent'. The copies of Greenwood's typed letters, totalling 16pp., date from between 27 July 1949 and 22 July 1950, bookending the whole correspondence. They are written on the backs of discarded typed drafts of pages from Greenwood's screenplays. Something of a bluffer (other items in her papers indicate that she had worked in a bank, and as secretary to the actor Robert Donat, but that she was now living with her mother), she begins her first letter grandly: 'As you will see from the letter heading we are a company devoting our time to the writing of film scripts, based upon original or existing stories and plays. These are chosen because of their human appeal and potential entertainment value.' She claims that the firm's 'reader' has brought to her attention Deeping's book 'Blind Man's Year', and that a 'well known actress' is 'anxious to portray Rosamund Gerard'. The first two replies are by Deeping's wife, the second signed 'M P D per pro Warwick Deeping'. The Deepings grant consent to the adaptation, subject to approval by Deeping, and Deeping's response (13 September 1949) to the first sample of the adaptation is positive: 'Excellent! The tale comes out with direction & simplicity.' He suggests £600 for the rights. Greenwood finds this 'very reasonable', revealing that Sonia Dresdel (1909-1976), the actress she had in mind for the female lead, 'is delighted with the part'. On 26 October 1949 Deeping declares the complete adaptation 'excellent', explaining that 'Writing is a difficult business as I had a stroke about nine months ago.' Four days later he agrees that 'John Mills would be a very good choice' for the male lead, 'especially if he could produce the book himself', and reports that his wife is 'as pleased with your rendering of the book, as I am, & she is a critical person'. Four weeks later Greenwood writes to tell him that she is writing to Mills, and asks for permission to adapt 'Corn in Egypt'. He feels that there is 'a lot of good stuff' in the book, and that she 'would make a very fine picture' out of it. In a two-page letter she describes points in the book she is uneasy about, and this elicits a two-page response from Deeping, in which he discusses 'the machinery' which plays a prominent part in the story, explaining that he and his wife 'had all these things on our small farm'. He finds her adaptation of the second book better than the first, concluding: 'I was doubtful about the end, but when I had read your treatment of it, I was moved to let it stand.' A three-page letter from Greenwood, at the beginning of 1950, meets with a terse reply from Deeping: 'You have the exclusive rights of "Blind Man's Year" & not just a temporary lease. | Good luck to it.' On 21 April 1950 she sends a letter of condolence to Mrs Deeping, with a pushy business letter regarding the rights to 'Woman at the Door' three months later. In her response (21 July 1950) Mrs Deeping thanks her for her sympathy ('I need it.') and explains about the large amount of correspondence she has to deal with. A further query from Greenwood, made the following day, appears to have gone unanswered.

UPDATE: In reviewing this and other items for sale by the same bookseller, it seems Miss Greenwood was quite active in attempting to produce screenplays from the works of popular authors of the time.  From her letters to other authors of the time, there seemed to be an element of deception in her approach to gaining tentative approval to develop a screenplay.  As far as I can tell, she never produced any.

AFTERGLOW

Deeping died at age 72 and coincidentally a total of 72 books were eventually published under his name up to the mid 1950s.   

There is no information in the internet of Mrs. Deeping's life after his death, other than she lived for another 21 years.  I did find a notice in a English medical journal stating that he left about 34,000 English pounds.  This would be about $5 million (in 2008) based on the price of gold in 1950 and exchange rate of pounds to dollars in 1950.
 
I learned that the Deeping estate in Weybridge, (Eastlands), was donated by Mrs. Deeping to the National Trust in 1959 and is now leased to a family and is not open to the public.  There is a portrait, apparently still in the house, of Mrs. Deeping that was painted in 1936 by James Penniston.  It is titled "Portrait of the Testator", an odd title, at least in the contemporary meaning of the word - not sure what it meant in England in 1936.  She seems sad in the painting.

                                    PORTRAIT OF THE TESTATOR


Eastlands was built in the early 1700's and one of the residents before Warwick Deeping was the actress Frances "Fanny" Kemble, a famous British actress and author in the early and mid nineteenth century.  

This is a 1922 photo of Deeping in front of Eastlands, not long after he purchased the property.

This is a contemporary photo of Eastlands, now occupied by new residents.  

Update - A blog reader, Mr. Tom Wingate Vachon posted a comment with much more information on Eastlands as well as Warwick and Maude Deeping.   I've reproduced that information here.

I lived in Weybridge much of my youth, not far from Eastlands.  As an undergrad - in English & and History of Art at UKC - one dissertation I wrote was on the history of Eastlands.  It's not quite right that Fanny Kemble owned Eastlands. The family went there on vacation to be out in the country.  In those days, wrote the actress, it was a "three hours' drive" away from central London. They loved the yellow gorse, purple heather and the smell of pine trees.  The house was smack in the middle of the heath.  You still can get a sense of that heath to this day as Eastlands still has open areas and an old woodland about it. 

Deeping could have been stimulated by interesting royal history in the close environs of Eastlands. Just up the hill, in the mid-1830s, a small but striking domed RC chapel was to be built by a James Taylor of Greenwich. He had come to Weybridge Park, to Waterloo Cottage (later renamed Waverley Cottage) to live out his last years in the countryside.  The chapel was his family mausoleum, too.  Taylor died in 1846.  But, in 1848, his family received the exiled King Louis-Philippe d'Orleans and Queen Marie Amelie there to hear Mass.  They resided close to Weybridge at Claremont, Esher, Queen Victoria's favourite childhood 'home'.  In 1850 the Taylor crypt was used for the king's tomb.  In time, some 13 members of the exiled Orleans were buried there.  None are now.  The last, Victoire, Duchesse de Nemours (a first cousin of both Victoria & Albert) was exhumed and taken to the Orleans mausoleum at Dreux in 1980 or thereabouts. 

In addition, Weybridge had a few remnants of the Tudor Palace, Oatlands Palace, still extant. (Situated in the vale below the Duke of York's Georgian-style house.) A long wall and an arch within it are still standing.  Most of the lovely red bricks were used in the C18th to line the new canals in the area. 

In the early C19th Eastlands was owned by a local baker, a Mr James Eastland.  The property was rented from him by the Kembles.  As he was reluctant to get rid of a sandy mound in front of the house, it was converted by his creative tenants.  Fanny's brother used it as "a fort".  It is said to have been fashioned like an earthern amphitheatre for their amateur dramatics.  A swell in the ground is still there. (A 'real' and large earthern amphitheatre exists at Claremont.) 

Mrs. Deeping was an eccentric.  Her portrait, as you see, shows her in a green dress.  Her Rolls (or big car) was the same colour and her chauffeur had his uniform dyed...in the same colour!  There was a vat for this out at the back. 

Warwick's own big cars would have been appreciated in the locality.  He was living only a few hundred yards from Brooklands Racing Track, the first circuit in the world.  Opened in c.1907, I believe.  On race days the roar from the many cars would have reached Eastlands.  (Parts of the impressive concrete banking are still to be seen.)  Fancy cars went through Weybridge the whole time. 

Deeping also could have appreciated a fellow dog enthusiast in the area.  Fanny Kemble, returning to the Weybridge area as an adult, stayed at Oatlands Park, the ex-home of the Duke and Duchess of York (then owned by friends of hers). The, again, eccentric Duchess had a famous pet cemetery there, which Fanny returned to.  Years later, the Deepings would have seen it as well for sure. While mostly composed of dogs, the house pet collection had included monkeys and birds.  Pet tombstones still survive (one says "Craft"), but now are placed flat in the lawn and relocated. Originally standing up by pathways nearby the famous two-floor grotto, the latter was demolished post-WW II by an unenlightened council, and the dogs' gravestones (most of them?) moved.


Footnote - The nearby racetrack may have been the inspiration for Deeping's short story, The Power Of Concrete Things.  This story is the tale of a very wealthy and strong willed woman who, to the dismay of the locals, demolished a beautiful woodland area to build the first circular concrete racetrack in England. She turns the once quiet area into a busy commercial attraction with resulting accidents and drama.



MORE HISTORY
A Blog reader sent me this photo of Warwick Deeping and wife Maude Deeping in the early years of his writings, about 1908.  This was when they lived in "Green Gore", a farmhouse near Battle.

 
 
There was an interview with Deeping in 1908 published in Cassell's magazine in which there appears a photo of the cottage in which they lived.   The caption calls this "Gate Cottage" in Battle,  so it must be the same as "Green Cove".   In the article, it is described as a farmhouse.  This looks like much more than a "cottage."   By 1908, Deeping had 7 novels published and with an inheritance from his father, was well well off financially.

                                   Deeping in Egypt during WWI

Deeping wrote many of his short stories while in the Royal Medical Corps in The Great War.  While Deeping was in the war, his wife assumed the work of getting his short stories and novels published and corresponding with agents and publishers.

Here are some postcards she wrote to James Pinker, Deeping's one time agent.   The first one concerns a short story that was being placed with Tillotsons.  Tillotsons was a syndicator of stories and other material for newspapers worldwide.  I've found all the Deeping stories that were placed in Australian newspapers -  at least all those in newspapers that have been digitized.  They do keep adding new newspapers so there are a few more titles that may show up some day.  I'm still looking for three that were listed in the credits for his works.  These are "Sharks", " The Professor's Secret" and "A Night of Surprises".    Update - I found " A Night of Surprises" in an obscure newspaper in Scotland, dated 1923.  This is about 10 pages and will be in Volume VII.   The other two remain elusive.

Note the address at the time - 44 Elphinstone Rd, Hastings, England. I've been told there is a house at that address that looks as if it might be the same one from 1918.   A recent newspaper clipping I ran across describing the 1904 wedding of Warwick Deeping and his wife mentioned that she was the only daughter of a Captain and Mrs. Merrill of 44 Elphinstone Rd, Hastings.  So, this was her parent's home and she most likely was living with her parents while Deeping was away in Turkey and then France in the Great War.  

I found the short story that is mentioned in Mrs. Deeping's letter,  " Trelawney's Z Rays", was in a 1921 copy of The Queenslander Newspaper from Brisbane, Australia.  This is one of many that were never in fiction magazines or books, but only in newspapers.  It is in one of the Lost Stories volumes. 

The following letter was sent from their previous residence in Battle, and the cottage appears to be called Green Cove.

In the same collection of Pinker's letters, Newman Flowers, Deeping's long time publisher at Cassell, takes Pinker to task for not requiring the author Steven McKenna to remove what Flowers considers offensive material about Warwick Deeping from McKenna's new novel.   I don't know what McKenna novel was in question or anything concerning the offensive comment.  I've looked at all of McKenna's novels that are in the Gutenberg site, and pdf searches don't show any mention of Deeping, so apparently the reference was removed.

A reader sent me this photo of Deeping and his wife, Maude at start of an automobile trip in 1928. I thought Deeping would be driving a Rolls as that is what his characters who are wealthy always drive, but this looks like a top-of-the line 1927 Buick.  Note the "wings" on the car - the covering over the wheels.  Apparently United States' car makers had U.K. export models since Deeping's is a right hand drive.  At $4000 new in the U.S., this was a very expensive car compared to the $600 or so for a Ford Model T 4 door Sedan.  Buick was a high end brand, on par with Cadillac in reputation.  Note the two spare tires on his Buick. In the 1920's, traveling on country roads meant long distances between repair shops and two spares allowed you more margin.  Deeping and his wife apparently liked to take motoring trips.


This is better - 6 years later in 1934 he has a Hooper coach body on a Daimler chassis with straight eight 25 HP.  Hooper built many of the cars for the various Royal Families in Europe and elsewhere in the world (Emperor of Japan), so this was top of the line.  Hooper was particular about who they would accept as a client since each body and interior was customized and they wanted to maintain their image of selling only to wealthy clients.  Deeping's car probably is in someone's collection today but there is no internet record of it.

This car was actually a limousine with sliding glass partition between front and rear.  Deeping probably had a chauffeur by this time but in the photo it looks like he would also drive it, as he is standing by the driver's door (right hand drive of course)

I found this photo of a 1935 Daimler with Hooper body in California that is one of 6 built so it may have been part of the build for Deeping.  This one in the photograph is quoted as being unmodified, so since it is black, it isn't Deeping's Daimler-Hooper, which was a fawn color.   The owner of this car listed the original price as 1700 pounds in 1935.  A British pound in 1935 is about 58 times more valuable than today so that is about 100,000 pounds and in U.S. dollars, probably $150,000 today - a very expensive car bought only by the wealthy.

A photo of Warwick Deeping, with Maude Deeping and Royal, their Cairn Terrier.  This may be in 1932 or so.  Note that Deeping is wearing "Plus Fours", a style of casual wear with the pants 4 inches below the knee, exposing the argyle socks.  Most often worn when playing golf but popularized for casual wear by Edward, Prince of Wales.  

WARWICK DEEPING ARCHIVES

 

In 1988, Boston University acquired SOME of the written records of Warwick Deeping.  They are contained in 15 folding-lid boxes, each box about 4” thick x 12” high x 16” long.  So, if all stacked side by side, it is about 6 feet in length.   

With a reservation, they can be viewed in the 5^th floor of the main BU library on Commonwealth Avenue in downtown Boston.  The collection is in storage off-site so it must be brought in by request.

You can’t copy anything with a scanner or camera. 

You must wear gloves while handling the papers.  You can't use a pen to take notes, but a pencil is OK.  You can also use a computer to take notes. You can also use an audio recorder but everyone will hear you as it is a library and very quiet.  There are cameras watching you at all times.  No photos of even the room or you will be permanently expelled, or so it says.  There are likely to be other people in the room going through the archives of other authors and artists as they have a large collection. 

Someone at BU, at the time of purchase, put together an index of the contents of each of the manila folders within each box (average 9 folders per box).   They did a very detailed job, however, they made many mistakes in not recognizing some items for what they were.  This is understandable since only a few would know certain facts.

For instance, they had several pages of A Woman's War that they described as fragments of an unpublished novel.  They also listed many other works as unpublished or fragments of unpublished works  but again they were incorrect.  For instance, the entire contents of I Live Again are in 4 separate folders and each listed as unpublished novels.   I can understand this error since the 4 sections in in that book had a title, but they would not appear in any list of all of his works.

Virtually all of the manuscripts were all holographs (handwritten) by Deeping.  There were very few typewritten versions of them.  He wrote in ink (sometimes pencil in his very early stories) in a extremely difficult to read, spidery script, using various short-hand symbols.  He must have had the stories all formed in his mind, as it appears he just started writing and made very few corrections or changes on each page.  An occasional cross out of word and replacement or extra phrase was sometimes added, but near 100% of each page was as originally written.   I did see some story notes on some of them so for the longer, more complicated stories, he apparently had some planning of character names, locations, etc. prior to starting.

One observation -- the ink that Deeping used has greatly faded and is very light in many of the manuscripts.  I trust BU has made scans or photographs of these as it will not be very many years in the future before it will be impossible to read them.  

He must have employed someone who was very familiar with his handwriting to type his originals.  There are some of these double spaced type-written manuscripts along with the original holographs.   In many cases to the left of a line in the holograph, he would print out the word, such as a name of a character or city so that it was clear to the typist what he meant.  He had a very difficult to read long hand and tended to compress letters together in many of his words.  

To prepare the originals, he used un-ruled, plain 16 x 13 inch sheets, folded to make a book with 8" x 13" pages.  In some manuscripts he had the sheets cut so they were 8" x 13" pages and the book was sewn together with string in the upper left hand corner.  You can still see the holes he punched in the papers for the strings.

Deeping was rather frugal as he re-used nearly all these gathering of folded sheets, using the reverse side of some of the works for the composition of further works !  There was considerable time lag between the original composition and the re-use in most cases. For instance, the original 1908 Betrand of Britany has two short stories written 10 years later on the opposite side - the short stories Oriana of The Bungalow and The Sacred Snakes.  

The archive is not complete.   There are only about one third of his total novels there and the vast majority are those last written including his last book published, The Sword of the Cross.  The manuscripts from his more well known novels such as Sorrell and Son, Kitty, Doomsday, and Roper's Row, were not there and no one at BU knows what happened to them as they were not part of the acquisition.  

I've learned that some were acquired by various private collectors in the U.K. from Deeping's wife.  I know of one such collector and before this collector's death, was provided some very interesting content to be provided in future updates to the Lost Stories collections.  Update.   Four complete, never published novels are in Volumes VII and VIII.   Volume IX also contains 4 partially completed novels and one full length novel from 1897.

With the exception of one item (A Cavalier's Romance in 1897), none of his works have dates on them.     

Also missing are the manuscripts of virtually all of his nearly 300 short stories with only a very few holographs in the archive of such stories.  

There IS one holograph of a short story named Blackthorn Farm - An Amateur in Arcady, that I thought at first was a new short story I had not seen.  In reading the very difficult to read writing, I soon realized it was the first 3 chapters of the novel Corn in Egypt.  Apparently he originally wrote Blackthorn Farm as a short story and then expanded it into the novel.  I've never seen the title Blackthorn Farm ever published in any magazine or newspaper.

In some cases, I found working titles for his novels on his original manuscripts that were later crossed out and replaced with the final title.  I've detailed those in my description of the novels, above.

There were some very interesting diaries Deeping kept while serving in WW I and detailing instructions on surviving gas attacks as well as reporting the death of officers.  Also there is a diary from 1918 from Deeping’s mother, Marianne Deeping.  It detailed daily life with such facts as how many eggs she collected one day from the hens and a neighbor's problem with a fox !

I didn’t know Deeping re-wrote some of his books as plays.  Several of his novels appeared in the archives in this fashion -  Seven Men Came Back (originally titled Armistice and then We Were Seven), Sorrell and Son, and Old Pybus. He collaborated with Maitland Davidson on the Old Pybus play, as Maitland's name is on the title page.  The Plays follow the general story line of the novels.   George Davidson Deeping was Warwick Deeping's father and since boy's middle names were often after their mother's maiden (Davidson) name, Maitland Davidson was probably a relative.
  

AUDIO RECORDINGS

I found an advertisement in an old New York area newspaper about an unusual radio broadcast on October 16, 1932.  It was narrated by Warwick Deeping and prerecorded in London on the old aluminum transcription discs and sent by mail to be broadcast in New York.  Since it was on the NBC network it was heard on other stations in the U.S.   It was a 15 minute essay entitled " A Message of Hope", and was on a program called International Radio Forum.  From this press release, you can see it was about "silver linings" in the 3 years of the Depression following the stock market crash in 1929.  I presume Deeping read this essay, if so, it may be the only voice recording of Warwick Deeping. 

The Library of Congress has over 150,000 of NBC's recordings but they tell me the transcription disc is not there.  A cursory check with the British Library also does not show any BBC archives from that era with that name.  There must be a written transcript of this someplace but it doesn't show up in any searches.   It may have been published in a newspaper as Deeping's essays were most often published in that venue.  I've never seen any essay that would seem to be associated with this.

DEEPING SCHOLARSHIPS
 
I've not ever seen any reference to any scholarship or foundation set up by Deeping, especially at his alma mater, Trinity College at Cambridge. This is odd, since he seemed to have high respect for Trinity College, as many of his novels have scenes where characters are attending this University.  Apparently he kept his charitable contributions private.


INTERESTING FINDING
I saw in an E-bay listing where the Warwick Deeping family Bible was sold at an estate sale in 2013.  It originally belonged to Deeping's father, George Deeping and you can see in the frontispiece where Deeping's father recorded George Warwick Deeping's birth along with that of his sisters.  These photo's came from a dealer's E-Bay listing.

The Bible was from the mid 1800's, and is leather bound and in very good condition.  Deeping's father was a well-to-do doctor and this was no doubt a very expensive Bible for its time.  Its appearance after all these years attests to its high quality.  Deeping often wrote of characters living a Christian life and referencing their Bibles or quoting phrases from the Bible.  This was probably the very Bible that came to his mind when he visualized this.

 

In another E-Bay listing, a dealer had 4 letters from Deeping.  These letters deal with Deeping's short story publications in some of the periodicals of the time.  They are addressed to a Mr. Winchester who appears to be the editor of some periodical.  The first is written on letterhead from The Oatlands Park Hotel in Weybridge, the others from Deeping's home at Eastland in Weybridge.  Perhaps Deeping was staying at the Oatlands while remodeling was going on at Eastland.

AND THEN I HAVE TO DEAL WITH DOGS DYING

It sounds like a line from the Casey Kassem Top 40 hits radio show, but there are many dogs dying in Deeping's works. This photo is of Deeping, from the cover of Short Stories of Warwick Deeping, with a Cairn Terrier, name unknown, but probably the same as one in one of his novels - could it be Prince Charles, from Corn in Egypt ?   With his obvious love of dogs, I find it strange that he'd so often portray such sad incidents.  

The list  : Doomsday, Corn in Egypt, Old Mischief, Woman at the Door, The Rust of Rome, Man in Chains, Bertrand of Brittany, The Old World Dies, The Wood (One of the short stories in Two in a Train) and Fox Farm.  

Update :  In Weldon's Ladies Journal, March 1935, there is an interview with Warwick Deeping and his wife, titled "Meet Warwick Deeping."  This was in connection with the forthcoming serialized long novel Bluewater that ran in the same magazine from April 1935 to February 1936.  In this interview, we learn the name of Deeping's Cairn Terrior is Rollo.

More Updates :  It is more likely the dog's name in the Deeping book cover photograph is Royal.  This picture appeared in The Bystander Magazine in 1930, about the time of the book cover photo and it reports this Cairn Terrier's name was Royal.  Apparently he had at least two Cairn Terrier's with Rollo coming along after Royal.  Maybe there were even more. 

WARWICK DEEPING - THE FARMER

In 1938, prior to WWII, Deeping became concerned about food supplies in the event of war with Germany.  He purchased land near his home and set up a farm.  There was an interesting story about this in The Bystander and Tattler Magazine for May 28, 1941.  After seeing these photographs, it is clear where he obtained so much of the background material for his novel, Corn In Egypt that was published a year later.  

WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE

I'm finished with the 10 year effort of 9 volumes  of the "Lost Stories" series for now.  I'm missing 4 known titles.  Two of these were listed in connection with a newspaper publication of The Empty Car in 1922 in an Australian newspaper. 

These two are The Professor's Secret and Sharks.  I've looked in all the pre-May 1922 Queenslander newspaper issues that are shown on The Trove website, and nothing has shown.  I've never seen these titles mentioned elsewhere.

The other two missing short stories are The Blond Beast and The Buffer.  These titles came from a list of Deeping's short story submissions to American magazines that a blog reader informed me was in the Deeping Archives at Boston University.  It is possible the titles were later changed when published, since this was a common practice of Deeping and editors.   

If I ever find these, I'll update Volume IX to a 2nd edition.

I continue to look for the stories that were only published in periodicals and may show up unexpectedly in E-Bay sales. when the seller makes a comprehensive list of the contents and the search engine flags Deeping's name. I have found that short stories were often published under different titles, much the same as his books.  I've learned to ask sellers of magazines to send a digital photo of the first page of a story before I make any effort to purchase the magazine.

 

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