“A cruel story runs on wheels and every hand oils the wheels as they run.” – Ouida
About Ouida
Ouida (1 January 1839 – 25 January 1908) was the pseudonym of the English novelist Maria Louise Ramé (although she preferred to be known as Marie Louise de la Ramée).
Maria Louise Ramé was born at Bury St Edmunds, England.
During her career, Ouida wrote more than 40 novels, children’s books and collections of short stories and essays. Her work had several phases.
In 1863, when she was 24, she published her first novel, Held in Bondage.
In her early period, her novels were considered “racy” and “swashbuckling”, a contrast to “the moralistic prose of early Victorian literature” (Tom Steele), and a hybrid of the sensationalism of the 1860s and the proto-adventure novels being published as part of the romanticisation of imperial expansion. Later her work was more typical of historical romance, though she never stopped comment on contemporary society. She also wrote several stories for children.
She died on 25 January 1908.
(Source – Wikipedia)