The Wonderful Tune: A weird tale where music meets torment

Little is known about the author’s life and to a large extent her work remains either neglected or out of favour.

Her literary career got off to a very bright start in 1917 when she won the Hodder & Stoughton First Novel Prize for ‘Miss Haroun Al-Raschid’. Five years later came her seminal work ‘The Undying Monster’, which today is still regarded as a macabre werewolf classic.

Throughout her career she contributed short stories to such popular periodicals as Novel, Lady's and Weekly Tale-Teller. One of the best was ‘The Wonderful Tune’ and whilst the title sounds light and airy her dark imagination riddles the narrative. Many of her works were set in exotic locations from North Africa to the Middle East.

Her output was small, limited to two collections of short stories and several novels.

During the 1930’s severe and debilitating migraines prevented her from working for any length of time and all she could muster was contributions to anthologies.

Jessie Douglas Kerruish died in Hove, Sussex in 1949, in obscurity.