BACK IN PRINT!

Behold Your Queen!
The Foreigner
Dear Wife
Patriot's Daughter
According to Thomas
Tamar
 Saul's Daughter
Mamzelle
Heart's Conquest
Rhoda of Cyprus
Ann Lawrence of Old New York

Next up in Fall 2011: Eric's Girls

Libraries and Bookstores can purchase The Gladys Malvern Classics collection wholesale from CS Direct. Sign up here!

Where to begin?

I discovered the children's writer Gladys Malvern as an adolescent, and absolutely loved her books. I had a passion for historical fiction at that time, and her novels ranged from Queen Esther to the 19th century. Malvern was amazingly popular and prolific (45 books I can find online), and yet her books have fallen out of print. Here's how lost she is: there wasn't any mention of her in Wikipedia!

I find this ridiculous (but then, I do acknowledge that my tastes in literature run towards the uncomplicated; and that's a rather unpopular "mode" at present).

A few years ago I stumbled across 3 of her books in an abandoned school library, snatched them up, and re-read them. They were much as I recalled, although a little more simplistic than I remember... but still, well-written, interesting, and thoroughly enjoyable. They are perfect for kids, especially girls and homeschoolers seeking historical fiction.

Gladys Malvern wrote almost 4 dozen books in her prolific career as a writer of Young Adult fiction and biography. She was born in New Jersey on July 17, 1897, though her roots were in Virginia and her ancestors include such historic American names as Lee, Rolfe, Randolph, and Custis. Her mother, Cora Malvern, worked as a wardrobe mistress for theater companies, and as Gladys writes in The Junior Book of Authors (1951) "...until I was twenty-one, home to me was anywhere--hotels, trains, boarding houses; for my sister, Corinne Malvern, and I were 'stage children.' When I stopped being a 'stage child,' I became what they called an ingenue, and then a leading lady. But by this time I had decided I didn't like wandering about, and I began to think how nice it would be to have a home like other people."

In the 1910s, the two sisters were working regularly in traveling vaudeville productions, as well as in the growing New York movie industry. But by the early 1920s, Gladys wrote that Corinne "had given up acting and gone in for art. So I finally gave up the stage, too, and thought I'd write for a living. That shows how optimistic I was. To write doesn't cost anything, but buying stamps to send out what I wrote had a way of adding up to money, because it hardly seemed I'd dropped the stories into the mailbox before there they were again!"

Gladys, now in advertising, Corinne, and their mother were living together in Los Angeles. "Advertising is a very good business. I liked it immensely and stuck with it for about twelve years. But after work, being very stubborn in this matter, I continued to write. And I wrote. And I wrote. Finally--oh, after I'd torn up any number of manuscripts--I sold a book... And somehow or other I began to feel encouraged. In fact, after I'd sold three novels, I felt so brave I gave up my advertising job. We sold the lamps and the easy chairs and most of the books, and came blithely to New York." The Malverns moved to New York sometime between 1934 and 1936, and Gladys settled down to writing, sharing an apartment with her sister Corinne overlooking the Hudson River. Corinne illustrated most of Gladys' books until her death in 1956. Gladys wrote in a variety of formats, including short stories, advertising copy and radio scripts, but was happiest when writing for young adults. She died in Weston, Connecticut on November 16, 1962.

As an out-of-print writer, her books are currently selling for ridiculous prices ($100-200 on certain titles), so it is my goal to do what I can to get her works republished. I have several tasks to fulfill as a result:

  1. Collect copies of as many of the books as possible. In any format at all - crumbling, photocopied, electronic. PRESERVE THE WORDS. Just six titles left!
  2. Assemble a thorough bibliography of the titles, editions, reprints, etc. DONE!
  3. Find out how to lobby publishers to reprint her books. DONE! I am working with Special Edition Books to reprint several of the titles.

I need help; if any Malvern fans come across this site and have anything to contribute (photocopies, biographical information, etc.), I will be so grateful!

  1. *According to Thomas. 1947. New York, R.M. McBride & Co. (Reprinted 2011 by Special Edition Books)
  2. *Ann Lawrence of Old New York. 1947. Julian Messner, Inc., New York. (20MB)
  3. *Behold Your Queen! 1951. Longmans, Green & Co., New York. (Reprinted 2011 by Special Edition Books)
  4. *Blithe Genius; The Story of Rossini. 1959. New York, Longmans, Green
  5. †Brownie: the little bear who liked people. 1939. Springfield, Mass., McLoughlin Bros.
  6. Curtain Going Up! the story of Katharine Cornell. 1946. New York, Julian Messner.
  7. *Curtain's at Eight. 1957. McRae Smith Company, Philadelphia.
  8. *Dancing Girl. 1959. Philadelphia, Macrae Smith.
  9. *Dancing Star: the story of Anna Pavlova. 1967. New York, J. Messner.
  10. *Dear Wife. 1953. Longmans, Green & Co., New York. (Reprinted 2011 by Special Edition Books)
  11. *Eric's Girls. 1949. New York, J. Messner
  12. *Gloria, Ballet Dancer. 1947. New York, Messner.
  13. Good Troupers All: the story of Joseph Jefferson. 1945 Philadelphia, Macrae Smith Co.
  14. *Heart's Conquest. 1962. McRae Smith Company, Philadelphia. (Reprinted 2011 by Special Edition Books)
  15. Hollywood star. 1953. New York, J. Messner.
  16. *If Love Comes. 1933. Book 8vo. London,
  17. *Jonica's Island. 1945. Julian Messner, Inc., New York.
  18. Kin. 1931 New York, Dodd, Mead. (written as Vahrah Von Klopp)
  19. †Land of Surprise! 1938. Springfield, Mass., McLoughlin Bros.
  20. Let's Call it Love. 1938 New York, Hillman-Curl. (written as Sabra Lee Corbin)
  21. Love Comes Late. 1934, New York, Greenberg. (written as Vahrah Von Klopp)
  22. *Mamzelle. 1955. McRae Smith Company, Philadelphia. (Reprinted 2011 by Special Edition Books)
  23. *Meg's Fortune. 1950. New York, Messner
  24. *My Lady, My Love. 1957. McRae Smith Company, Philadelphia.
  25. *On Golden Wings; the story of Giuseppe Verdi. 1960. Philadelphia, Macrae Smith
  26. *Patriot's Daughter. 1960. McRae Smith Company, Philadelphia. (Reprinted 2011 by Special Edition Books)
  27. *Prima Ballerina. 1951. New York, Messner.
  28. *Rhoda of Cyprus. 1958. McRae Smith Company, Philadelphia.
  29. *Rogues and Vagabonds. 1959. McRae Smith Company, Philadelphia.
  30. †Rusty: the pup who wanted wings. 1939. Springfield, Mass., McLoughlin Brothers.
  31. *Saul's Daughter. 1956. Longmans, Green & Co., New York. (Reprinted 2011 by Special Edition Books)
  32. *So Great a Love. 1962. Philadelphia, Macrae Smith Co.
  33. *Stephanie. 1956. McRae Smith Company, Philadelphia.
  34. *Tamar. 1952. Longmans, Green & Co., New York. (Reprinted 2011 by Special Edition Books)
  35. *The Foreigner. 1954. Longmans, Green & Co., New York. (Reprinted 2011 by Special Edition Books)
  36. The Great Garcias. 1958. New York, Longmans, Green.
  37. †The Land of Look-and-See. 1940. Springfield, Mass., McLoughlin Bros.
  38. *The Queen's Lady. 1963. McRae Smith Company, Philadelphia.
  39. *The Secret Sign. 1961. Abelard-Schuman, New York.
  40. *The Six Wives of Henry VIII. 1972. Vanguard Press, Inc., New York. (14.6MB)
  41. *The World of Lady Jane Grey. 1964. New York, Vanguard Press.
  42. *There's Always Forever. 1957. New York, Longmans, Green.
  43. Valiant Minstrel, the story of Sir Harry Lauder. 1943. New York, J. Messner, Inc.
  44. *Wilderness Island. 1961. Philadelphia, Macrae Smith.
  45. Your Kind Indulgence, a romance of the theatre in old New York. 1948. New York, J. Messner

* copy on hand
† children's picture book
bold - Need copy!

Links:

Gladys Malvern on amazon.com

Gladys Malvern on Wikipedia

Special Edition Books

Corinne Malvern on Wikipedia
   
  Date last updated: 11/16/11