Louisa Emily Dobrée ( – 1917) was a French-born Irish Catholic writer. She was born in Tours, France, and her heritage was Irish on her mother’s side and French through her father’s Guernsey family. Dobrée wrote novels, short stories, juvenile literature, and fugitive articles that appeared in various magazines. Her non-fiction works addressed subjects such as home nursing, domestic and personal hygiene, etiquette, character sketches, embroidery, plain work, and natural history. Over the course of her career, she contributed to numerous publications and authored many books for young readers as well as religious and instructional works. She lived in several European countries, including France, Ireland, and the Channel Islands, and spent her later years near London.
Early life Louisa Emily Dobrée was born in Tours, France, . She was of Irish descent on her mother's side, while her father's family, of Guernsey, was originally French.
Career Dobrée's first story was published when she was nineteen. This was followed by fugitive articles and short stories in magazines. She also wrote books for young people, among which are the following:— Loved into Shape, Dreams and Deeds, Terry, One Talent Only, A Knotless Thread, Underneath the Surface, A Lowly Life with a Lofty Aim, and Turned to Gold, as well as Hugh Templar's motto, Underneath the Surface. A Sark Story, Leon and the Lessons He Learned. A Jersey Story, and Only Johnny Brown. These were published at intervals of sometimes great length.
In 1887, Dobrée was received into the Catholic Church, and her books thereafter included:— A Manual of Home Nursing, Stories on the Sacraments, A Seven-Fold Treasure, Per Parcel Post, A Tug-of War, Stories on the Beatitudes, Beautiful Sewing, and Plain Work, among others. She was on the staff and an occasional contributor to twenty magazines, the subjects on which she wrote upon including home nursing, domestic and personal hygiene, etiquette, character sketches, embroidery, plain work, and natural history.
The scenes of Dobrée's stories were always set in Europe. She lived a great while in the Channel Islands, France, and Ireland, besides having paid visits of long and short duration to Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, and Germany. Later in life, she lived at Chiswick, near London.
Selected works
Terry, or Trying to Follow, 1876 Loved into shape; or, The story of Bob Sanders, 1877 Dreams and Deeds, 1877 One Talent Only, 1878 Hugh Templar's motto, 1879 "Not useless", 1879 A Knotless Thread, 1879 Underneath the Surface. A Sark Story, 1881 Turned to Gold, 1881 A Lowly Life with a Lofty Aim, 1881 A life lesson, 1884 Only Johnny Brown, 1886 Leon and the Lessons He Learned. A Jersey Story, 1886 Kit and His Violin, 1888 A Manual of Home Nursing, 1889 Little King I.A Story for the Young ... With Illustrations, Etc, 1890 Stories of the Seven Sacraments, 1890 Loved Into Shape; Or, the Story of Bob Sanders, 1891 A Christmas lesson, 1891 A lowly life with a lofty aim, 1891 A Tug-of War, 1891 A sevenfold treasure : stories on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, 1892 Winifred's work, 1892 Per Parcel Post, 1892 Stories on the Beatitudes, 1894 A workhouse concert, 1894 Coals of fire, 1894 Uncle Luke's legacy, 1894 Dick's desire, 1894 Stories on the Rosary. Part I, 1897 Stories on the Rosary. Part 2, 1898 Sylvia's Lesson: Extreme Unction, 19?? The Two Wishes: A Story of Holy Orders, 19?? Brian Daly: A Story of Holy Communion, 19?? You Did it Unto Me: Stories on the Corporal Works of Mercy, 1903 Stories on the Rosary. Part 3, The glorious mysteries, 1904 Among the saucepans, 1915 Ever a fighter, 1915 Driving a bargain, 1915 Father Carlton's offerings, 1915 Don Filippo's dream, 1915 Stories from Italy, 1915 The Kingdoms of the World, 1917 Beautiful Sewing Plain Work
References