Sad ending for a bestselling novelist

I WONDER how many people in Cork, currently European City of Culture, have heard of the Cork woman whose novel The Gadfly has sold millions of copies, translated into 29 languages, making it one of the bestselling books ever by an Irish author.

In a recent BBC documentary on China, some people from the Cultural Revolution era were asked if there was any book which influenced them. Many replied, "The Gadfly".

I wonder is it for sale in any bookshop in Cork?

The writer I am referring to is Ethel Lilian Voynich, who was born in Cork in 1867 and died in 1947. She was the youngest daughter of George Boole, the famous mathematician. She married a Polish count and, through him, was introduced to revolutionary Europe.

The Gadfly is set in Italy and its hero is a revolutionary patriot.

She wrote some other novels but none had the same success as The Gadfly. She died, unknown, in New York.

Kevin O'Byrne

Knockeen

Church Cross

Skibbereen

Co Cork