Best known work

• The Railway Children, 1906

Other well known work(s)

• Five Children and It, 1902

Genres

• Fiction - Novels
• Fiction - Short Stories
• Poetry

Nom de plume

Edith Bland, Fabian Bland

Social class

Middle class

Parental background

Nesbit's father owned an agricultural college. Nesbit was educated whilst travelling on the continent for her mother's health, presumably by tutors.

At publication of best known work

• Age: 48
• Marital status: Married
• Number of children: 4

Physical description

Poet Richard le Gallienne described her as "quite unlike any other woman I had ever seen, with her tall, lithe, boyish-girl figure, admirably set off by her 'Socialist' gown, with her short hair, and large vivid eyes, curiously bird-like, and so full of intelligence" (quoted in A Woman of Passion: The Life of E. Nesbit by Julia Briggs)

Did you know?

Though Nesbit ostensibly had five children (one of whom died aged just fifteen), two were actually born to her friend Alice Hoatson and passed off as Edith's own. Their father was Edith's husband Hubert. Edith forgave her husband and employed Alice as a housekeeper.

Additional information

The Edith Nesbit Society offers a wealth of information on their site.