If Elinor Glyn is remembered at all today, it is as the woman who coined the term “It” as a 1920s euphemism for sex appeal. The cultural hype surrounding “It” and the subsequent Hollywood film overshadowed the notoriety of Glyn's famous novel
Three Weeks, a tale of sexual adventure that scandalised Edwardian society. In turn,
Three Weekseclipsed Glyn's earlier reputation as novelist of modern manners in the Austen tradition, but it is probably these earliest novels that are her most interesting.
Glyn was born Elinor Sutherland in Jersey on 17th October 1864. Her mother, also called Elinor, was from an Anglo-French family who had emigrated to Canada, while her father, Douglas Sutherland, was of Scottish descent. Mr Sutherland died when Elinor was three months old, and her mother
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Citation: Harrington, Louise. "Elinor Glyn". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 March 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1773, accessed 22 November 2024.]
