Edith Nesbit (1858–1924) was an English writer of children's books, the author of The Railway Children, Five Children and It and The Story of the Treasure Seekers. She wrote for children with humour and realism, without preaching, and influenced many later authors.
Works
The Railway Children
Childhood
Edith Nesbit was born in Kennington, London, on 15 August 1858. Her father, a chemist and head of an agricultural college, died when she was three, and the family moved around England, France and Germany for the health of her sister.
She began publishing poems in magazines as a teenager, and long thought of herself above all as a poet.
Fabian and writer
In 1880 she married Hubert Bland, a bank clerk turned journalist. With him she was among the founders of the socialist Fabian Society in 1884, alongside George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells.
To support the household, she wrote stories, poems and articles, and from 1899 the children's books that made her famous: The Story of the Treasure Seekers, The Wouldbegoods, Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Railway Children.
Later years
Nesbit lived at Well Hall, in Eltham, where she entertained writers and artists. After Bland's death in 1914 she married a marine engineer, Thomas Tucker.
She died at Jesson St Mary's, in Kent, on 4 May 1924. Writers such as C. S. Lewis and J. K. Rowling have acknowledged her influence.
Anecdotes
Bringing up other children
Nesbit brought up as her own two children her husband had with Alice Hoatson, who lived in the household as a companion and secretary.
E. Nesbit
She signed her books E. Nesbit, which hid the fact that their author was a woman.
Frequently asked questions
What is The Railway Children about?
Three children move to the Yorkshire countryside with their mother after their father is wrongly imprisoned. They make friends with the railway people and work to clear his name.
Was Edith Nesbit a socialist?
Yes, she was one of the founding members of the Fabian Society in 1884.
Which authors did Nesbit influence?
C. S. Lewis, who mentioned the Bastable children in The Magician's Nephew, as well as P. L. Travers and J. K. Rowling, among others.