Queen Lucia

Edward Frederic Benson (1867-1940) was a British archeologist and author, who wrote under the pen name E. F. Benson. Originally from Berkshire, he studied at Cambridge University and published his first novel "Dodo" in 1893. It was an instant success. He was a prolific novelist, and wrote in a blend of satire, science-fiction, supernatural and romantic melodramas, and has been admired by later authors such as H. P. Lovecraft. He was also a reputed memoirist, and wrote amongst others a biography of Charlotte Brontë. Benson was a very discreet character but it is widely assumed that he was homosexual, of which traces can be found in the circles he kept as well as in his fiction. He never married and passed away in 1940 at age 72.