Charlotte Mansfield (1881–1936) was an English novelist, poet, and traveler, known for her planned 1909 "Cape to Cairo" [1] journey. [2]
Charlotte Mansfield was also an accomplished needlework artist, and exhibited her embroidery work in London.
Mansfield's novels include Torn Lace (1904); [3] The Girl and the Gods (1907); [4] Love and a Woman; [5] Red Pearls (1914); [6] Gloria, a Girl of the South African Veldt (1916); [7] The Dupe (1917), a World War I spy story; [8] Sex and Siller (1920); [9] and Strings (1920), a supernatural thriller about an evil violin. [10] She also published two books of poems, Flowers of the Wind (1899), and Poems (1902). [11] [12] The Spectator reviewer called her poetry "verses of indifferent quality, now and then audacious in sentiment." [13]
Her widely publicized "Cape to Cairo" tour in fact only reached to Lake Tanganyika before returning to South Africa. [14] She wrote about her travels in southern Africa in Via Rhodesia: A Journey Through Southern Africa (1911)). [15] In reviewing the book, The Register of Adelaide commented, "a less fitting person to follow in the steps of Mary Kingsley could hardly be imagined." [16]
Mansfield's Gloria, A Girl of the South African Veldt was one of the first South African novels to be adapted for the screen, when American director Lorimer Johnston made a silent picture at Killarney Film Studios in 1916 based on Mansfield's novel, starring English actress Mabel May in the title role. [17]
Charlotte Mansfield was also an accomplished needlework artist, and exhibited her embroidery work in London. [18]
In 1909, she married mining engineer Vladimir Raffalovich in London; they lived in Johannesburg, South Africa. [19] Alfred Edward Turner and Mansfield's new sister-in-law Vera Raffalovich Friedlander presented and hosted the wedding festivities. [20] Vladimir Raffalovich survived Charlotte Mansfield Raffalovich when she died in 1936, aged 55 years.