Violet Needham

Who was Violet Needham?

Amy Violet Needham was the author of 19 popular children's books. She was the daughter of Colonel Charles Needham and Henriette Amélie barones van Tuyll van Serooskerken. Her father Charles was the biological son of Francis Needham, 2nd Earl of Kilmorey

She came to writing late in life, publishing her first book, The Black Riders, in 1939, at the age of 63. She was born in England to a privileged but chaotic family. Her father was a gambler and their finances fluctuated considerably. They spent summer holidays in Europe, and lived there for six years when Needham and her sister were young women.

In her lifetime Violet Needham published 19 novels. They can be divided into three groups: Ruritanian, historical, and contemporary. The eight Ruritanian novels, sometimes known as the Empire series or the Stormy Petrel series, are set in three fictional countries in Eastern Europe: the Empire, Flavonia, and Ornowitza, the latter being a small duchy between the other two.

Her first novel, The Black Riders, introduces the hero Dick Fauconbois, known as the "Stormy Petrel". He lives in the Empire, although he visits Flavonia during the course of the novel.