Marie Belloc Lowndes (1868-1947) was an English novelist. Born in London, she was raised in La-Celle-Saint-Cloud, France by a French father and English mother. Her brother, Hilaire Belloc, would later become a prominent writer, activist, and politician. Her mother Bessie Parkes, a principled feminist, was the great granddaughter of influential philosopher Joseph Priestley, whose work had a profound influence on modern chemistry, Christianity, and political liberalism. From a young age, Belloc Lowndes worked to live up to her family name, publishing biographies, memoirs, novels, and plays nearly every year until her death, beginning in 1898. Known for her mystery novels, often based on real events, Belloc Lowndes earned praise from Ernest Hemingway and continues to be recognized as a leading writer of the early twentieth century. The Lodger (1913), her most well-known work, is a retelling of the story of Jack the Ripper, and has been adapted for film several times by such directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Maurice Elvey, and John Brahm.
