Bessy Rane

📙 Ellen Wood (nee Price, 1814-87) was an English novelist better known as Mrs Henry Wood who is best remembered for her 1861 novel East Lynne. Many of her other novels became international bestsellers, achieving great popularity in the US, and she surpassed the fame of Charles Dickens in Australia. In 1867 she purchased the English magazine The Argosy which had been started two years earlier, and many of her novels were serialised in the magazine prior to book publication. She continued as editor until her death when her son, Charles Wood, took over. In addition to her novels she also wrote numerous short stories, including the popular Johnny Ludlow series and several in the genre of supernatural fiction. This novel was first published in 1870 and is reprinted from an edition of 1897.