Mon 17 Dec 2007
Addenda to CRIME FICTION IV: Royce Ryton to Gerald B. Savi
Posted by Steve under Authors , Crime Fiction IV[5] Comments
After spending the afternoon scraping a quarter inch of ice off my driveway, I decided that less strenuous activity was the order of the remainder of the day. More from Part 9 follows, mostly in the S’s.
RYTON, ROYCE (THOMAS CARLISLE). 1924- . Add both middle names. Noted playwright with one criminous drama included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
The Unvarnished Truth. London: French, pb, 1978. [3-act play, a comedy-farce: A row between a married couple leaves the woman dead.]
SANCTON, THOMAS [SR.]. 1915- . Add as a new author entry. Born in the Panama Canal Zone. Managing editor of The New Republic in 1943; wrote extensively on race and the South while with the magazine and later as Washington editor of The Nation. Currently at work in New Orleans on a memoir of his early involvement in civil rights movement. Father of Thomas A. Sancton, jazz clarinetist & former Paris bureau chief for Time magazine.
-Count Roller Skates. Doubleday, 1956. Setting: New Orleans. Reprinted as The Magnificent Rascal, Crest, pb, 1958. From a Time magazine review: “… camera-eye reporting on jazz joints, brothels and the irrecoverable sights and sounds of New Orleans before World War I.”
_The Magnificent Rascal. See: Count Roller Skates (Doubleday, 1956).
SANDERS, ELSIE H(ELEN?). 1919?-1994? Tentatively add middle name and both dates. Author of one novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
Kenya Nights. Grayson & Grayson, UK, hc, 1944. Setting: Kenya. “… novel of romance, jealousy, attacks by leopards & mad natives …”
SARMIENTO, DOROTHY. 1908-1995. Add both dates. Author of one mystery novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below:
Roles and Relations. Chapman & Hall, UK, hc, 1956. Setting: England. “… a murder story set in a country house where a group of psychiatrists are meeting.”
SAVI, E(THEL) W(INIFRED) née BRYNING. 1865-1954. [Slightly revised biography.] Mother of Gerald B. Savi, q.v. Born in Calcutta; privately educated. Married John Savi in 1884 and lived in rural India until 1896. Settled in England, 1909, when she began to write. One of her many romantic novels is marginally criminous and is included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
-The Devil Drives. Putnam, UK, hc, 1921. Putnam, US, hc, 1922. Setting: India.
SAVI, GERALD B(ARTON). Son of novelist E(thel) W(inifred) Savi, q.v. Spent ten years in an official capacity in Burma and author of a number of novels set there; many are criminous, at least marginally. Five are included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, including the first cited below; add the one indicated with an asterisk (*).
-Alive or Dead. Hodder & Stoughton, UK, hc, 1938. Add setting: Burma.
(*) The White Pig. Hodder & Stoughton, UK, hc, 1937. Setting: Burma. “… a thriller concerned with government officials in Naga country and the Burmese jungles.”
October 7th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Am intrigued to find this account of my Great Aunt “Ettie”, Ethel Winifred Savi (née Bryning) and also her son, our much admired artist cousin Gerald Savi. I would be so grateful if anyone has information on how we could make contact with their descendants in the States (where both moved to after World War 2)and how we can obtain copies of their books, which are now sadly out of print!
Us Bryning/Tilden/Forbes relations in England are constantly in touch with each other but we all lament our loss of contact with the American branch of the family!
October 7th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Penelope
I’m not one who might be able to tell you how to reach the American branch of your family, but perhaps someone else can. The best way to search for out-of-print books, though, is http://www.bookfinder.com .
Good luck on both hunts!
Steve
October 7th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Steve:
Did some quick preliminary searching, but I really haven’t the time to get that involved. However, here is what I dug up and you can forward it on to the interested party.
A quick check by me revealed that Ethel Winifred Savi and her daughter, Gwyneth Delphine Savi arrived aboard the SS Haverford, sailing from Liverpool to Philadelphia, arrived there on December 25, 1919. Ethel’s age was listed as 54; occupation: novelist. Her daughter’s age was was listed as 18 and occupation: secretary. Their nearest relative that was listed was Ethel’s son and Cwyneth’s uncle, Mr. G. B. Savi, of 67 Argyle Road, W. Ealing, London.
Their destination in the States was to visit Ethel’s brother and Gwyneth’s uncle. Mr. P.L. Bryning of 12 Pearl St,, Boston, MA. (more than likely a business address).
A check through the 1920 US Census revealed that this was Percy L(ivingston) Bryning, who was living with his family as boarders at (looks like ) 137 or 157 Townsend Street, in the Dorchester section of Boston.
The family members were:
Percy L. Bryning, age 51,; emigrated to the US in 1895 and was naturalized in 1901.Born in India.
Percy’s occupation at the time was a salesman for metal products.
Hope N. Bryning, age 33, born in Ohio, USA
Nevin L(ivingston), age 6
Frances L., age 9
Muriel, age 2 and 4 months
All children born in Massachusetts
A check on Nevin’s birth at the New England Genealogical Society web site revealed that he was born
Feb 20, 1913 and that his mother’s maiden name was Nevin.
More than likely the daughters got married and had families.
AS for Nevin, Social Security says he was born Feb, 28, 1913 and died October 1985 in Winter Park, Florida. Whether he had a family or not, I didn’t explore.
Ok. So I did my good deed for the day!
Best,
Victor
November 30th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
I am descended from another branch of the Savi family and have a family tree that was correct in the early 1920s giving a few more names to chase.
I have a book written by Margaret MacMillan called Women of the Raj and she appears to have interviewed Ethel’s descendants. It is published by Thames & Hudson.
August 11th, 2014 at 2:17 pm
“Banked Fires,” (1919) by Mrs. (E.W.) Savi has turned up at Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31399/31399-h/31399-h.htm