1 Glasgow-born Catherine Carswell, nee Macfarlane, had many strings to her bow. The daughter of a city merchant, she was educated at Park School and from 1901 until 1903 she attended classes in English Literature at the University of Glasgow.

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2 She went on to study music at the Schumann Conservatorium in Frankfurt am Main before taking up employment as reviewer and dramatic critic at the Glasgow Times’ sister newspaper, the Glasgow Herald from 1907 until 1915. She also worked as an assistant theatre critic for the Observer.

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3 Her first novel, Open the Door, was published in 1920, selling out of all 9000 copies printed and winning a literary prize. She followed it in 1922 with The Camomile. She developed a particular interest in the life and work of Robert Burns, publishing her celebrated The Life of Robert Burns in 1930: her unsentimental account of his life upset many Burns traditionalists, however and she even received hate mail.

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4 Catherine was a close friend of DH Lawrence, and in 1932 she published The Savage Pilgrimage: a Narrative of DH Lawrence.

5 Her first marriage, to Herbert Jackson in 1903, was annulled in 1908, following a traumatic time in which Jackson tried to kill his new wife. Research carried out by Scottish novelist Ajay Close uncovered a tale of passionate love, deception and heartbreak which left Catherine alone and needing to support her young child. In 1915 she married Donald Carswell. She died in 1946 in England and fragments of her autobiography were published after her death as Lying Awake.