Ouida

Ouida (January 1, 1839 – January 25, 1908) was the pen name of the English novelist Maria Louise Ramé (although she preferred to be known as Marie Louise de la Ramée). Ramé was born in Bury St. Edmunds, England, to a French father and an English mother.She derived her pen name from her own childish pronunciation of her given name "Louise". Her opinion of her birthplace fluctuated; in one of her books she states During her career, she wrote more than 40 novel, children's books and collections of short stories and essays. She was an animal rights activist and animal rescuer, and at times owned as many as thirty dogs. For many years she lived in London, but about 1874 she went to Italy, where she died. Ouida's work went through several phases during her career. In her early period, her novels were a hybrid of the sensationalism of the 1860s and the proto-adventure novels dubbed "muscular fiction" that were emerging in part as a romanticization of imperial expansion. Later her work... full article at wikipedia