CORELLI, MARIE

born 1855, London, Eng. died April 21, 1924, Stratford upon Avon, Warwick pseudonym of Mary Mackay English author of 28 romantic melodramatic novels of immense popularity. Her first book, A Romance of Two Worlds (1886), dealt with psychic experiencea theme in many of her later novels. Her earliest success was Barabbas: A Dream of the World's Tragedy (1893), in which her treatment of the Crucifixion was designed to appeal to popular taste. The Sorrows of Satan (1895), also based on a melodramatic treatment of a religious theme, had an even wider vogue, and the climax of her career was reached with The Murder of Delicia (1896). Thereafter, she was frequently attacked by the more critical public for her sentimentality and poor taste. She had, however, amassed a fortune and in 1901 settled in Stratford-upon-Avon, where she staunchly opposed attempts at its modernization.