Berta Ruck
Template:Short description Template:Use British English Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Amy Roberta (Berta) Ruck (2 August 1878 – 11 August 1978) was a prolific Welsh writer of over 90 romance novels from 1905 to 1972. She also wrote short stories, an autobiography and two books of memoirs. Her married name was Mrs Oliver Onions from 1909 until 1918, when her husband changed his name and she became Amy Oliver.
Early life
Born Amy Roberta Ruck on 2 August 1878 in Murree, Punjab, British India.[1] She was one of the eight children of Eleanor D'Arcy and Colonel Arthur Ashley Ruck, a British army officer. The family moved to Wales, where Ruck was educated at St Winifred's School, Bangor.[2] She then attended the Slade School of Fine Art to study art, winning a scholarship, and finally the Académie Colarossi in Paris.[3]
Bernard Darwin, the golf writer and grandchild of Charles Darwin, was her cousin.
Personal life
In 1909, Ruck married a fellow novelist, (George) Oliver Onions (1873–1961). They had two sons: Arthur (born 1912) and William (born 1913).[4] Her husband legally changed his name to George Oliver in 1918, but continued to publish under the name Oliver Onions.
In 1939 Berta and her husband left London and settled in Aberdyfi.[5]
Berta Ruck was widowed in 1961. An interview of Ruck by the BBC was included as part of "Yesterday's Witness: Two Victorian Girls," originally broadcast on 8 June 1970.[6]
She died in Aberdyfi on 11 August 1978, nine days after her 100th birthday.[2]
Many of Ruck's letters and manuscripts are archived in the National Library of Wales.[7]
Writing career
Berta Ruck began to contribute short stories and serials to magazines from 1905. She published her first novel, His Official Fiancée, in 1914,[8] which was the subject of two films: His Official Fiancée (1919, silent film directed by Robert G. Vignola) and Hans officiella fästmö (1944, Swedish film directed by Nils Jerring).
Partial bibliography
Novels
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References
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- ↑ "OLIVER, Amy Roberta" in The World Who's who of Women, Vol. 1 (1973), p 651
- ↑ a b "RUCK, Berta", in Twentieth-Century Romance and Gothic Writers (Macmillan International Higher Education, 1982), p. 597
- ↑ Who Was Who 1971–1980 (London: A. & C. Black, 1989 reprint Template:ISBN), p. 691
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Berta Ruck archive Retrieved 23/5/2023.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links
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- Template:Internet Archive author
- National Library of Wales, Berta Ruck MSS
- Berta Ruck tells BBC about everyday life of London in 1890s
- Berta Ruck at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
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- Pages with script errors
- Articles with Project Gutenberg links
- 1878 births
- 1978 deaths
- 20th-century English women writers
- 20th-century English novelists
- Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art
- English fantasy writers
- Welsh women centenarians
- People from Murree
- Welsh women short story writers
- People educated at St Winifred's School
- British women science fiction and fantasy writers
- English women novelists
- 20th-century Welsh short story writers
- British people in colonial India
- People from Aberdyfi
- Writers from British India