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Pseudonyms

Hidden Identities

Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (by Charlotte Brontë)
Behind a Mask : Or, A Woman's Power (by Alcott, Louisa May)
Nouvelles de George Sand (by George Sand)
Théâtre complet de George Sand; Volume: ... (by George Sand)
The Works of George Eliot (by George Eliot)
The Works of George Eliot, Volume 6 (by George Eliot)
The Enchanted Woods, And Other Essays on... (by Vernon Lee)
Music and Its Lovers (by Vernon Lee)
Ottilie: An Eighteenth Century Idyl (by Vernon Lee)
Genius Loci : Notes on Places (by Vernon Lee)
Hauntings, Fantastic Stories (by Lee, Vernon)
The Countess of Albany (by Vernon Lee)
Carnival : Entertainments and Posthumous... (by Dinesen, Isak)

It was a truism that a respectable woman’s name was published only three times during her life: upon the occasions of her birth, marriage, and death. Especially for the upper classes, seeing one’s name in print meant scandal and the ruin of a good reputation. Coupled with the prevailing attitude of feminine inferiority and institutional discrimination against women, no scientific or academic organization would consider, much less publish, a scholarly treatise authored by a woman.

Subtly rebelling against this chauvinism and misogyny, and not wanting to solicit ridicule or scandal, many women affected masculine pseudonyms to protect their identities and their families’ names. Their work spans fiction and nonfiction and the trend continues to this day, with women using masculine names for credibility in male-dominated genres. These authors include:

Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë first published their first book of poetry under the pseudonyms of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.
Louisa May Alcott pushed the envelope writing as A. M. Barnard, a secret not discovered until the 1940s. Two titles published under that nom de plume are A Long Fatal Love Chase and Behind a Mask: Or, a Woman’s Power.
One of the 19th century France’s most prolific writers, Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin published under the name George Sand. Assorted works include Nouvelles de George Sand, Oeuvres Complètes de George Sand, and Théâtre complet de George Sand.
Mary Ann Evans achieved literary fame for her sharp political writing under the nom de plume of George Eliot. Books published under that pseudonym include The Works of George Eliot, Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, and The Mill on the Floss.
Writing on a variety of topics from travel to music to supernatural fiction, Violet Page published The Enchanted Woods, And Other Essays on the Genius of Places, Music and Its Lovers, Ottilie: An Eighteenth Century Idyl, Genius Loci, Hauntings: Fantastic Stories, and The Countess of Albany under the pseudonym of Vernon Lee.

Karen Blixen is one of the few female authors publishing under a male name whose books have been picked up by Hollywood. The movie Out of Africa is based on her novel Shadows in the Grass. That and the following titles were written under her two pseudonyms, Isak Dinesen and Pierre Andrézel: Carnival: Entertainments and Posthumous Tales.
The secret identity of Murray Constantine was not discovered until 1989, revealing the author’s true identity as Katharine Burdekin. The World Library Foundation has a digital copy of her manuscript for The Devil, Poor Devil!: A Novel. She published many works under her actual name, too.
Alice Bradley Sheldon published science fiction, including the award-winning novella The Girl Who Was Plugged In under the name of James Tiptree, Jr.
June Tarpé Mills created comic book characters Daredevil Barry Finn, The Purple Zombie, and Miss Fury--the first female superhero--under the name Tarpé Mills.
Joanne K. Rowling published her wildly successful Harry Potter series using the gender neutral first and middle initials on the advice of her publisher, who felt a young male audience would shun a book written by a woman. She also published The Cuckoo’s Calling, the first book of her Detective Cormoran Strike series, under the name Robert Galbraith.

That same thinking led urban fantasy and science fiction author of the Cal Leandros series, Robyn Thurman, to publish under a shortened version of her first name: Rob.
Magnus Flyte is the pseudonym for a female duo writing as a team: Christina Lynch and Meg Howrey. They wrote the 2012 thriller The City of Dark Magic set in Prague.
Harper Lee, whose first name was Nell, also stuck to the safety of androgyny by dropping that first name from her nom de plume. Her book To Kill a Mockingbird remains a modern classic.
Prolific and wildly popular romance author Nora Roberts also publishes under an androgynous pseudonym, J. D. Robb for her suspenseful thrillers, especially the In Death series.
Heeding the conventions of the male-dominated genre of true crime, Anne Rule published four novels, including her debut The Stranger Beside Me, under the masculine pseudonym of Andy Stack. She went on to publish 22 more bestselling books under her own name.

By Karen M. Smith