Angela Brazil
| Angela Brazil | |
|---|---|
Angela Brazil, c. early 1920s
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| Born |
November 30, 1868 Preston, Lancashire, England |
| Died | March 13, 1947 (aged 78) Coventry, Warwickshire, England |
| Occupation | Children's book author |
| Nationality | English |
| Citizenship | British |
| Alma mater | Heatherley School of Fine Art |
| Genre | School stories |
| Notable works |
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Angela Brazil (pronounced "brazzle") (30 November 1868 – 13 March 1947) was one of the first British writers of "modern schoolgirls' stories", written from the characters' point of view and intended primarily as entertainment rather than moral instruction. In the first half of the 20th century she published nearly 50 books of girls' fiction, the vast majority being boarding school stories. She also published numerous short stories in magazines.
Her books were commercially successful, widely read by tween girls, and influential upon their readers. While interest in girls' school stories waned after World War II, her books remained popular until the 1960s. They were seen as disruptive and a negative influence on moral standards by some figures in authority during the height of their popularity, and in some cases were banned, or indeed burned, by headmistresses in British girls' schools.
While her stories have been much imitated in more recent decades, and many of her motifs and plot elements have since become clichés or the subject of parody, they were innovative when they first appeared. Brazil made a major contribution to changing the nature of fiction for girls. She presented a young female point of view which was active, aware of current issues and independently minded; she recognised adolescence as a time of transition, and accepted girls as having common interests and concerns which could be shared and acted upon.
She was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1868, during the Victorian era. She was the youngest child of Clarence Brazil, a mill manager, and Angelica McKinnel, the daughter of the owner of a shipping line in Rio de Janeiro, who had a Spanish mother. She was the youngest of four siblings including sister Amy, and two brothers, Clarence and Walter.
Her father Clarence was distant, seldom involved himself in his children's affairs, and saw himself primarily as a provider for the material well-being of the family and responsible for ensuring the children were appropriately schooled in religious tradition. She was primarily influenced by her mother, Angelica, who had suffered during her Victorian English schooling, and was determined to bring up her children in a liberated, creative and nurturing manner, encouraging them to be interested in literature, music and botany, a departure from the typical distant attitude towards children adopted by parents in the Victorian era. Angela was treated with great affection by her sister Amy from an early age, and Amy effected an immense, perhaps dominating influence on Angela throughout her life.
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