Edith Maude Hull

The Shadow of the East (Dodo Press) Edith Maude Hull

Edith Maude Hull nee Henderson, later Mrs. Winstanley (1880-1947) also known as E. M. Hull and Edith M. Hull, was a British novelist best known for being the author of the romantic novel The Sheik which became an international best seller in 1921. This novel is credited with starting the hugely popular "desertromance" genre. Hull followed The Sheik (1919) with subsequent novels The Shadow of the East (1921), The Desert Healer (1923), and The Sons of the Sheik (1925). Hull dabbled writing fiction in the late 1910's while her husband was away serving in World War I. The Sheik, her first effort, was first published in England in 1919 and quickly became an international blockbuster, placing among Publisher's Weekly's top ten best sellers for both of the years 1921 and 1922. Hull's volume quickly sold over 1.2 million copies worldwide. Her other works include: Camping in the Sahara (1926), The Lion-Tamer (1928), The Captive of the Sahara (1931) and The Forest of Terrible Things (title in US: Jungle Captive) (1939).