Edith Nesbit was a prolific author of over forty books for children, including the enduringly popular The Railway Children.

Her lifestyle, especially for a middle-class Victorian woman, was highly unconventional. A committed socialist and a significant figure within the Fabian Society, Edith Nesbitwas seven months pregnant when she married Hubert Bland. Later, she lived in a complex ménage à trois with her husband and his mistress which produced five children and was rather different to the idyllic vision of family life she created in her novels.

Nesbit’s writing financed the purchase of an impressive house in Kent, where a large circle of friends and admirers was entertained. Established writers such as George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells were visitors to the house.

She also wrote novels, short stories and over twenty collections of poetry for adults, which never achieved the commercial and critical success of her much loved work for children.