Daisy Ashford

Daisy Ashford (1881-1972) was an English writer best known for her satirical novel of high society, The Young Visiters, which she wrote at the age of nine. Born to a Catholic family in Surrey, Ashford was largely educated at home. From the age of four until her early teens, she composed novels, plays, and short fiction for the private amusement of those around her. Following the death of her mother, Ashford rediscovered the manuscript of The Young Visiters in the family papers. With the encouragement of influential editor Frank Swinnerton, the novel was published in 1919 by Chatto & Windus, becoming an immediate bestseller. In 1920, Daisy Ashford: Her Book, a follow-up collection of her fiction, appeared. Averse to her accidental literary celebrity, Ashford did not publish any further work during her lifetime. She married James Devlin in 1920, with whom she had three children, and resided in Norwich until her death.