Edith Nesbit

Edith Nesbit, historically credited as E. Nesbit, was an English writer and poet, best know for her books for children.Due to the ill health of Edith’s sister, the Nesbit family travelled extensively, living in France, Spain and Germany. Following her sister’s death, Nesbit and her mother settled in Halstead Hall in Kent, a location that provided the inspiration for The Railway Children. She had a tumultuous marriage to bank clerk Hubert Bland, adopting the several children that he had by other women. Nesbit’s novels featured realistic contemporary children in real-world surroundings, but who encountered magical objects. This approach was groundbreaking at the time, and influenced many later writers including C.S. Lewis, P.L. Travers, and J.K. Rowling. Two of her most celebrated works, The Railway Children and The Phoenix and the Carpet, can be purchased in physical audio format from Voxblock.She died in 1924, of suspected lung cancer due to her lifelong smoking habit.