Biography

Mabel was an incredibly prolific writer, publishing some 180 books and contributing over 300 short stories and articles to annuals and magazines, both under her own name and the pseudonyms of Jean Estoril, Priscilla Hagon and Anne Pilgrim.

Mabel announced to her family at the age of eight that she planned to be a writer. They took this seriously and when the family moved a few years later Mabel was given a spare room to use as a study. Her father bought a large office desk which she was to use for the rest of her life, and presented her with a typewriter upon which she taught herself to type. Although Mabel had a number of short stories published during the 1930s and had a couple of books accepted by publishers, the war intervened. Mabel joined the land army, and taught in a prep school and in a nursery in a slum area of Liverpool where she taught 48 two- to five- year-olds at a time. It was 1948 before Mabel received from her publisher the first copy of The Glen Castle Mystery, one of three books to be published that year. It was the start of a very successful writing career.

Her school stories are particularly interesting in that they are strikingly different from the typical school story of the 1950s. Heavily influenced by the writings of A S Neil, the progressive educationalist who founded Summerhill, Mabel’s schools are unconventional, teaching children self-discipline rather than relying on imposed discipline and many were coeducational. Her non-school stories were often mystery-thrillers for older children set in the places to which Mabel loved to travel: the Scottish islands, Switzerland, Wales, Ireland and New York and her descriptions of settings are evocative and detailed.

Books

FidraBooks is a new publishing company, specialising in reprinting classic children's adventure fiction. At present the following Mabel Esther Allan titles are available:

The School on North Barrule
Mabel Esther Allan
Voirrey and Andreas Qulliam, whose Manx father, now dead, bequeathed them their exotic Manx names, react very differently when told that they are going to Barrule House, a co-educational boarding school on the Isle of Man. Voirrey is thrilled that she will be living in her father's native island; Andreas hates the idea of boarding with girls, and is in no way mollified when he discovers that Barrule House does not play cricket or 'footer'. Both sister and brother tread a dangerous path once on the island: Andreas's rebellious behaviour causes problems, and Voirrey's determination to discover her father's sister, Mona Quilliam, estranged from Voirrey's parents since their marriage, leads her into some difficult situations. Voirrey also has to cope with her attraction to lively, intelligent Christian Brent, who does not seem to reciprocate. How Voirrey learns the truth and how Andreas becomes reconciled to Barrule House form the exciting and entertaining plot of The School on North Barrule.
Available Summer 2006