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Dorothy Kathleen Broster (2 September 1877 – 7 February 1950), usually known as D.K. Broster, was a British novelist and short-story writer, born in Garston, Liverpool at Devon Lodge (now known as Monksferry House), which lies in Grassendale Park on the banks of the River Mersey.〔1881 England Census〕 Educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College and St Hilda's College, Oxford〔Lorna Sage, ''The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English'' Cambridge University Press, 1999 ISBN 0521668131, (p. 94)〕 (where she was one of the first students), she served as a Red Cross nurse during World War I with a voluntary Franco-American hospital. Broster's first two novels were co-written with Gertrude Winifred Taylor; ''Chantemerle: A Romance of the Vendean War'' and ''The Vision Splendid'' (about the Tractarian Movement).〔 Following the war she returned to Oxford where she worked as a secretary to the Regius Professor of History and senior civil servants. ''The Yellow Poppy'' (1920) about the adventures of an aristocratic couple during the French Revolution, was later adapted by Broster and W. Edward Stirling for the London stage in 1922.〔J. P. Wearing, ''The London Stage, 1920-1929: a calendar of plays and players''. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1984. ISBN 0810817152 (p. 148)〕 She produced her best-seller about Scottish history, ''The Flight of the Heron'', in 1925.〔 Broster stated she had consulted eighty reference books before beginning the novel.〔Diana Wallace, ''The Woman's Historical Novel: British women writers, 1900-2000''. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. ISBN 1403903220 (p. 7, 29)〕 Broster followed it up with two successful sequels, ''The Gleam in the North'' and ''The Dark Mile''. She wrote several other historical novels, successful and much reprinted in their day, although this ''Jacobite Trilogy'', featuring the dashing hero Ewen Cameron, remain the best known. Broster also wrote several short horror stories, collected in "A Fire of Driftwood" and ''Couching at the Door''.〔Mike Ashley , ''Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction''. Elm Tree Books, 1977. ISBN 0-241-89528-6. (p.44)〕 The title story of "Couching at the Door" involves an artist haunted by a mysterious entity.〔Jack Adrian, "Broster, D(orothy) K(athleen)", in David Pringle, ed., ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers''. London: St. James Press, 1998. (pp. 95-97) ISBN 1558622063〕 Other supernatural tales include "Clairvoyance", (1932) about a psychic girl, "Juggernaut" (1935) about a haunted chair, and "The Pestering", (1932) focusing on a couple tormented by supernatural entity.〔 Broster was a private individual who avoided publicity; during her lifetime, many of her readers wrongly assumed she was both male and Scottish.〔 ==Critical reception== Literary historian Jack Adrian describes ''Couching at the Door'' as "a pure masterwork, one of the most satisfying weird collections of the century".〔 The poet Patricia Beer was an admirer of Broster's novels, stating she had been fascinated by ''The Flight of the Heron'' when she read it aged thirteen.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「D. K. Broster」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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