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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Clara Catherine Andrews

Author: Clara Catherine Andrews (1860–1929)

Alternate Name(s): Carl Swerdna (pseudonym); Catherine March (pseudonym)

Biography: Clara Catherine Andrews was born in Camberwell in 1860, the daughter of Archibald Cooper Andrews and Clara Robinson. By 1881, her father had gone bankrupt (1858) and died (1880/81) and likely her mother as well, and she was raising her three youngest siblings (according to the 1881 census). Soon after, she began a long association with The Family Herald newspaper writing serial fiction under the pseudonym "Carl Swerdna" (an anagram of her name). In the 1890s, she briefly took on the pseudonym "Catherine March" but reverted to her legal name in the twentieth century. Presumably, she wrote professionally to the end of her life and her works were much reprinted. She never married and died in 1929 in Staines.

References: British Census (1861, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911); The Literary Year Book (1897)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Madam's Ward.  1 vol.  London: William Stevens, 1887.
  2. Cruel Kindred.  1 vol.  London: William Stevens, 1890.
  3. Cherry-Blossom.  1 vol.  London: William Stevens, 1892.
  4. "A Long Lane".  1 vol.  London: William Stevens, 1893.
  5. Not a Saint.  1 vol.  London: William Stevens, 1894.
  6. A Desperate Game.  1 vol.  London: William Stevens, 1895.
  7. Prue.  1 vol.  London: William Stevens, 1896.
  8. "On London Stones".  1 vol.  London: James Clarke, 1897.
  9. A Barren Victory.  1 vol.  London: William Stevens, 1897.
  10. A Bitter Penitence.  1 vol.  London: William Stevens, 1898.
  11. A Year Between.  1 vol.  London: William Stevens, 1899.
  12. Ursula.  1 vol.  London: William Stevens, 1901.