Sharp, Evelyn, 1869-1955

Evelyn Sharp (1869–1955) was an English writer known for her fairy tales and children's fiction, who also wrote for adult readers. Public information about her is limited, and few details of her life are available, but the five works held in the collection show two strands of her writing: fairy-tale collections such as The Other Side of the Sun: Fairy Stories and All the Way to Fairyland: Fairy Stories, which are richly imaginative and gentle in tone and suited to children; and works such as Rebel Women, The Youngest Girl in the School and At the Relton Arms, which touch on women's circumstances, school life and family narrative and reveal her concern with real-world issues. Her prose is clear and her plots readable, moving naturally between fairy tale and coming-of-age story.