Margaret Storey (children's writer) explained

Elizabeth Margaret Storey (27 June 1926 – 28 September 2022) was a British author of books for children and young adults published by Faber.

Biography

Elizabeth Margaret Storey was born on 26 June 1926.^[1] She attended Girton College in Cambridge in 1948 to gain a BA Honours degree in English, and thereafter worked as an English teacher.^[2]

Neil Gaiman has cited her as an influence: "Margaret Storey is more or less out of print these days, alas. I loved her when I was about seven or eight, and am looking forward to finding out how much of her stuff has wound up in mine."^[3]

Her work included a fantasy series based on the adventures of two children, Timothy and Ellen, and a witch named Melinda Farbright: "the real thing - strange and magical, and above all, dangerous".

• Timothy and Two Witches (1966) - Illustrated by Charles W. Stewart^[4]
• The Stone Wizard aka "The Stone Sorcerer" (1967) - Illustrated by Charles W. Stewart
• The Dragon's Sister and Timothy Travels (1967) - Illustrated by Charles W. Stewart
• A Quarrel of Witches (1970 - Illustrated by Doreen Roberts^[5]
• The Sleeping Witch (1971) - Illustrated by Janina Ede^[6]
• A War of Wizards (1976) - Illustrated by Janina Ede
• The Double Wizard (1979) - Illustrated by June Jackson

She also wrote:

• Pauline (1965)
• Wrong Gear (1973)
• Keep Running (1974)
• Kate And The Family Tree (1965) - illustrated by Shirley Hughes
• The Smallest Doll (1966) - illustrated by Shirley Hughes
• The Smallest Bridesmaid (1966) - illustrated by Shirley Hughes
• The Mollyday Holiday (1971) - Illustrated by Janina Ede

Pauline, about an orphan forced to live with uncomprehending relatives, has been described as "an astonishingly mature novel for a new writer".^[7]

Storey is the same author known as the mystery writer Margaret Storey, who has written a number of books, sometimes under the pseudonym Elizabeth Eyre with the author Jill Staynes.

Storey died on 28 September 2022, at the age of 96.^[8]

Notes and References

1. Book: Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature . September 2010 . Wildside Press, LLC . 499 . 24 December 2023.
2. Book: Kirkpatrick, D. L. . Twentieth-century Children's Writers . 1978-11-10 . Macmillan International Higher Education . 978-1-349-03648-6 . en.
3. http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2002/05/finished-reading-grimble-to-maddy-last.asp Neil Gaiman's Journal
4. Web site: 2001-10-17 . Charles W. Stewart . 2022-02-28 . The Independent . en.
5. Web site: Art . Manchester School of . Tigers, caterpillars and other wild things (Monday 16 June — Friday 5 September 2014) . 2022-02-28 . Manchester School of Art . en.
6. Book: Kirkpatrick, D. L. . Twentieth-century Children's Writers . 1978-11-10 . Macmillan International Higher Education . 978-1-349-03648-6 . en.
7. [Marcus Crouch]
8. Web site: MS Elizabeth Margaret Storey . England and Wales, Death Index, 1989–2022 . 24 December 2023.