English writer. The Italian pseudonym was taken by her for beauty and attractiveness and in connection with her fascination with Italy. Her real name is Mary Mackay, the daughter of the famous Scottish poet Charles Mackay.
Corelli's first book, A Romance of Two Worlds (1886), was an outstanding success. It was followed by Vendetta (1886), Thelma (1887), Barabbas (1893), The Sorrows of Satan (1895) and many other books in which hidden and little-explored forces play a major role: hypnosis, transmigration
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English writer. The Italian pseudonym was taken by her for beauty and attractiveness and in connection with her fascination with Italy. Her real name is Mary Mackay, the daughter of the famous Scottish poet Charles Mackay.
Corelli's first book, A Romance of Two Worlds (1886), was an outstanding success. It was followed by Vendetta (1886), Thelma (1887), Barabbas (1893), The Sorrows of Satan (1895) and many other books in which hidden and little-explored forces play a major role: hypnosis, transmigration of souls, astral bodies, etc. The actors are poorly delineated, conversations are devoid of character, the plot is too exotic, incredible and stretched. Corelli's novels were to the taste of a huge number of ordinary readers. Serious English critics treated Corelli negatively, and the novelist waged a fierce war with them.
Corelli spent the last years of her life in Stratford-upon-Avon, where she spent a lot of effort and money on restoring the historical appearance of the city as it looked in Shakespeare’s time; in Corelli’s house in Stratford is now the Shakespeare Institute.