1. Margaret Gabrielle Vere Long, who used the pseudonyms Marjorie Bowen, George R Preedy, Joseph Shearing, Robert Paye, John Winch, and Margaret Campbell or Mrs Vere Campbell, was a British author who wrote historical romances and supernatural horror stories, as well as works of popular history and biography.
Marjorie Bowen studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and later in Paris.
At the age of 16, Marjorie Bowen wrote her first work of fiction, a violent historical novel set in medieval Italy titled The Viper of Milan.
Marjorie Bowen was married twice: first, from 1912 to 1916, to a Sicilian, Zefferino Emilio Constanza, who died of tuberculosis, and then to Arthur L Long.
Marjorie Bowen had four children; a son and a daughter with Constanza, and two sons with Long.
Marjorie Bowen's son with Long, Athelstan Charles Ethelwulf Long, was a colonial administrator.
In 1938, Marjorie Bowen signed a petition organised by the National Peace Council, calling for an international peace conference in an effort to avert war in Europe.
Marjorie Bowen's cousin was the artist Nora Molly Campbell.
Marjorie Bowen died on 23 December 1952 at the St Charles Hospital in Kensington, London after suffering serious concussion as a result of a fall in her bedroom.
Marjorie Bowen wrote under the names Joseph Shearing, George R Preedy, John Winch, Robert Paye and Margaret Campbell.
Under her own name, Marjorie Bowen primarily published historical novels, including a trilogy about King William III: I Will Maintain, Defender of the Faith, and God and the King.
Marjorie Bowen's 1909 novel Black Magic is a Gothic horror novel about a medieval witch.
Marjorie Bowen wrote non-fiction history books aimed at a popular readership.
Under the pseudonym "Joseph Shearing", Marjorie Bowen wrote several mystery novels inspired by real crimes.
Under the "George R Preedy" pseudonym, Bowen wrote two non-supernatural horror novels, Dr Chaos and The Devil Snar'd.
Marjorie Bowen's books are much sought after by aficionados of gothic horror and received praise from critics.