Pauline Smith

Pauline Janet Smith (2 April 1882 – 29 January 1959) was a South African novelist.

Pauline Smith was born on 2 April 1882 in Oudtshoorn, South Africa, and grew up in the Little Karoo. At the age of thirteen she was sent to boarding school in England and never lived permanently in South Africa again, though throughout her life she made a number of extended visits to the country. Her extended visit of 1913-1914, and the journal that she kept, formed the basis of many stories of "the Little Karoo" and her novel "The Beadle."

In 1908 she met the English novelist Arnold Bennett, who encouraged her to write fiction about South Africa. Eventually she published the two works for which she’s best known: the story collection The Little Karoo (1925), and the novel The Beadle (1926).

She died on 29 January 1959 in Dorset, England.

Works

• Journals (1913-1914)
• The Little Karoo (1925)
• The Beadle (1926)
• A.B. ... "a minor marginal note" (1933)
• Platkops Children (1936)

References

• South African Review of Books, University of Cape Town