Secretive Story-teller Stays in Hertford

 

Ethel M. Dell. Drawn from a family photo in Penelope Dell book ‘Nettie and Sissie'

Susan Payne

 

Margorie Gordon playing the part of the heroine in The Way of an Eagle, at the Aldelphi in 1922

The Tatler, 5th July 1922

In the summer of 1922, Lieutenant-Colonel Gerald Savage and his new wife took a suite at a Hertford hotel for 18 months. It is unlikely that the other residents or locals would have known that this shy, plainly-dressed woman was the best-selling novelist Ethel. M. Dell (1881-1939).

Rise to Fame

Ethel’s first book, The Way of an Eagle, was immediately successful on publication in 1912 and was reprinted 26 times over the next 2 years. She was 32 years old and her journey to become a novelist had been long. Ethel had been a published writer of short stories for 10 years, helping to support her parents and siblings.

Her first two novels had been rejected by 8 publishers before T. Unwin saw her entry for a competition. She did not win, but the publisher was interested enough to take her on. Once her public found her, success was swift and lasting. Thirteen novels were published from 1912-22, earning her up to £30,000 a year.

Ethel married Gerald Savage quietly from her home in Guildford. He was stationed at Hertford, serving in the Royal Army Service, so the couple took up residence in the town.

Time at Hertford

Much as her books were read and loved by the post-war, mass women’s readership, few people would have recognised Ethel Dell. This was a very deliberate (and successful) plan to protect her privacy. Her picture never appeared in the press.

It is not clear which hotel in Hertford became home to the Savages between 1922-24. We do know that Ethel stayed in her suite most of the day to write, retreating to the bathroom when a maid arrived to clean the room¹.

The book Ethel wrote at Hertford was called Tetherstone. As with all Dell books, it is full of melodrama, romance and happy endings². Heroes will always win through with moral backbone, pluck and by fighting on. Heroines will always remain pure until the marriage ties have been made. Years later, when told that her writing was beautiful, she replied “That’s very kind of you, and most undeserved, they are not well written and will never be called classics”¹.

Ethel’s time in Hertford came to an end when Gerald turned down a commission to India and left the army. The couple set up home at Ewhurst, Surrey.

Sustained Success

The production of novels continued, with at least one book a year up to her death. By the 1930s the height of her popularity had passed but the books continued to sell. The film industry rushed to buy the rights of Ethel’s novels; between 1918 and 1935, 23 silent movies were made. The books were also made into plays starring leading actors of the day, like Marjorie Gordon and Godfrey Tearle.³

From 1926 Ethel became increasingly unwell. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and survived an operation to remove the tumour.

Return to Hertford

With clear signs of the coming war, Gerard was called up from the reserves and the couple returned to the same Hertford hotel, in the summer of 1939¹. Here, Ethel completed her last book Sown Among Thorns, and was told that the cancer had returned. She died at the Hertfordshire County Hospital on 17th September and was buried in Hertford cemetery.

References

¹ Dell, Penelope. ‘Nettie and Sissie: a biography of Ethel M. Dell and her sister Ella’. Hamish Hamilton, 1977. ISBN 241896630.

² Wood, Harriet Harvey. ‘Dell [married name Savage], Ethel Mary’ from Dictionary of National Biography. Seen on 22nd August 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/35961

³ ‘Ethel M. Dell’ on Wikipedia. Seen on 14th October 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_M._Dell