Small image of a man handing a book to a women across a counter.

At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Helen Graham McKerlie

Author: Helen Graham McKerlie (1858–1936)

Alternate Name(s): Imo (pseudonym); Countess von Resetas (married nam)

Biography: Helen Graham McKerlie was born around 1858 in Dublin, the daughter of architect Sir John Graham McKerlie and his wife Sophia Caroline (née Savage). Though she was born in Ireland, she ardently considered herself Scottish through her father. Under the pseudonym "Imo," she wrote several novels beginning with A New Marguerite (1886). As a journalist she contributed to a number of magazines, writing on various subjects including a defense of Buddhism. (In the 1901 census, she described her religion as Buddhism.) Sometime in the early years of the twentieth century, she married a Count von Resetas and lived in his native Austria. By 1911, she was back in England as a widow, styling herself as the Comtesse Resetas. Her husband cannot be traced and may not exist. She spent her later years as a suffragist and wrote at least one play. She died on 2 July 1936 in Maidenhead.

Author Tags:

References: British Census (1891, 1911, 1921); Irish Census (1901); Literary Year-Book (1922); Wokingham Times (10 July 1936)

Fiction Titles:

  1. A New Marguerite: A Dream Vision.  1 vol.  London: Swan Sonnenschein, 1886.
  2. Lotus: A Psychological Romance.  1 vol.  London: George Redway, 1888.
  3. Priests and People: A No-Rent Romance.  3 vol.  London: Remington, 1891.
  4. The Radical's Wife.  1 vol.  London: John Macqueen, 1896.