Hunt, Violet, 1862-1942

British author, biographer.

Violet Hunt was an English author of novels, short stories, and poetry. She grew up in an artistic environment, and began publishing in her teens. Her work features strong female characters and expresses innovative views on women and women's roles in society. Her unconventional life made for public scandal, as she conducted a series of notorious affairs, most notably with Somerset Maugham and Ford Madox Ford.

Violet Hunt was a British writer, now best known for her supernatural fiction. Her father was the artist Alfred William Hunt. She was brought up among the Pre-Raphaelite group, which included Dante Gabriele Rossetti. She lived with the married Ford Madox Ford (Hueffer) from about 1910 to 1918 as his mistress, and in 1925 she was legally restrained from describing herself as Ford's wife. Her works include THE WIFE OF ROSSETTI-HER LIFE AND DEATH (1932).

Isabel Violet Hunt was born on Sept. 28, 1862 in Durham, England; she was the eldest daughter of landscape artist Alfred William Hunt and novelist Margaret Peacock; attended Notting Hill and Ealing High School in London; published poetry in Century magazine at age 13; her first short story, A thief in the night, was published under the pseudonym Violet Herris in Belgravia magazine; became an active feminist, joining the Women's Social and Political Union; wrote collections of short stories and novels, including: The maiden's progress (1894), A hard woman (1895), The human interest (1899), Affairs of the heart (1900), White rose of weary leaf (1908), Tales of the uneasy (1911), and More tales of the uneasy (1925); became contributor, reader, and subeditor for Ford Madox Ford's English Review; died on Jan. 16, 1942.