Stella Gibbons

SG was a gifted comic writer whose lively, parodic first novel, Cold Comfort Farm, was such a success that it has tended to eclipse her later achievements. Much of her writing was inspired by the work of other women writers such as Mary Webb , Ouida , and Jane Austen , who served both as influences and as targets of burlesque. SG began her career as a journalist, and in addition to novels, she also wrote poems, short stories, and a book for children.