British novelist and poet Eden Phillpotts was born in 1862 in India, where his father was the Political Agent for the states of Harotee and Rajputana. As a youth he was sent to England for his education. He spent some time at a dramatic school in London, but decided that he was not cut out to be an actor and left shortly afterward. He went to work for an insurance company, where he stayed for ten years, and in 1892 he married. The marriage produced a son and a daughter, Adelaide Phillpotts, who herself became a writer of some repute.

Phillpotts was incredibly prolific--turning out over 250 works in a 50-year career--covering every genre from fiction to poetry to essays, but he is probably best known for his detective thrillers, many of which he wrote using the pen name "Harrington Hext". Among his best known novels are "A Voice from the Dark", "The Red Redmaynes" and "The Grey Room". Although some critics have dismissed his fiction as heavy-handed and long-winded, others have praised them as imaginative, intricately plotted mysteries with solid characterizations.

Eden Phillpotts died on December 29, 1960, at his home in Broadclyst, near Exeter, Devon, England. He was 98 years old.

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Eden Phillpotts

Writer