May Sinclair

May Sinclair was the pseudonym of Mary Amelia St. Clair (24 August 1863 – 14 November 1946), a British writer who wrote about two dozen novels, short stories and poetry. She was an active suffragist, and member of the Woman Writers' Suffrage League. She once dressed up as a demure, rebel Jane Austen for a suffrage fundraising event. Sinclair was also a significant critic in the area of modernist poetry and prose, and she is attributed with first using the term 'stream of consciousness' in a literary context, when reviewing the first volumes of Dorothy Richardson's novel sequence Pilgrimage (1915–1967), in The Egoist, April 1918. She is known for her novels Life and Death of Harriett Frean (1922) and Arnold Waterlow: a Life (1924).

Early life

Sinclair was born in Rock Ferry, Cheshire. Her mother, Amelia Sinclair, was strict and religious; her father, William Sinclair, was a Liverpool shipowner, who went bankrupt when Sinclair was seven years old and became an alcoholic. Her parents separated and Sinclair lived with her mother, moving around and relying on the help of relatives. At 18 years old, Sinclair was enrolled at Cheltenham Ladies College, but her mother took her out after one year. She became obliged to look after her brothers, as four of the five, all older than she, were suffering from fatal congenital heart disease.

Career

From 1896 Sinclair wrote professionally to support herself and her mother, who died in 1901. An active feminist, Sinclair treated a number of themes relating to the position of women and marriage. Her works sold well in the United States.