Dorothy L. Sayers

Chris Willis (London Metropolitan University)
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Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893-1957) is best-known as the creator of Lord Peter Wimsey. Her blue-blooded sleuth romps cheerfully through 1920s and 1930s high society, solving mysteries among the upper classes of Belgravia and the artistic Bohemians of Bloomsbury. Arguably the best of the four leading “Golden Age” crime writers (Christie, Sayers, Allingham and Marsh), Sayers once stated that her goal in writing detective fiction was to elevate the mystery novel into a novel of manners. Detective fiction was not her only field, however. Sayers was also a distinguished theologian and classical scholar, whose translations of Dante are still in print today.

Born on 13 June 1893 in Oxford, Sayers was the only child of a middle-aged clergyman and his wife. She had a happy childhood in the remote

1490 words

Citation: Willis, Chris. "Dorothy L. Sayers". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 July 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5055, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5055 Dorothy L. Sayers 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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