The Red Cross Barge (eBook)

Marie Belloc Lowndes (1868–1947) was a prolific English novelist best known for her psychological thrillers and for her keen observations of life in early 20th-century London. Born to a French father and English mother, Lowndes began her writing career with journalism before moving on to novels and short stories. Her incisive works often delve into crime, the complexity of human nature, and the societal issues of her time. 'The Red Cross Barge' is one such work, where she demonstrates her literary skill in creating atmosphere and suspense, characteristic of her writing style. Lowndes' most famous novel, 'The Lodger' (1913), was a hit and has been adapted into several films, including Alfred Hitchcock's silent film 'The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog' (1927). Her narrative style, often compared to contemporaries like Wilkie Collins and Mrs. Henry Wood, frequently employs tightly woven plots with an undercurrent of the macabre. Lowndes had a reputation for meticulous character development, which allowed her to explore motifs such as trust, guilt, and the fallibility of perception. Through her extensive oeuvre of over 40 novels and numerous short stories, Lowndes has carved out a distinctive space in Edwardian and interwar British literature.