Anne Douglas Sedgwick

Who was Anne Douglas Sedgwick?

Anne Douglas Sedgwick was an American-born British writer. The daughter of a businessman, she was born in Englewood, New Jersey but at age nine her family moved to London. Although she made return visits to the United States, she lived in England for the remainder of her life.

In 1908, she married the British essayist and journalist, Basil de Sélincourt. During World War I she and her husband were volunteer workers in hospitals and orphanages in France.

Her novels explored the contrast in values between Americans and Europeans. Her best-selling novel Tante was made into a 1919 film, The Impossible Woman and The Little French Girl into a 1925 film of the same name. In 1931, she was elected to the United States National Institute of Arts and Letters. Four of her books were on the list of bestselling novels in the United States for 1912, 1924, 1927, and 1929 as determined by the New York Times.

Anne Douglas Sedgwick died in Hampstead, England in 1935. The following year her husband published Anne Douglas Sedgwick: A Portrait in Letters.