Mr. and Mrs. Sen

Louise Jordan Miln (1864-1933) was an American stage actress and writer, born in Macomb, Illinois, who moved to Chicago with her parents aged five. She had a close bond with her father and as a child travelled with him in the US and abroad. At 18 she took up acting and began an affair with married English actor George Crichton Miln. A sensational divorce case ensued in 1888, by which time Louise already had the first of her many children with Miln. The couple soon married and travelled to Australia where George tried to find acting work whilst Louise was tied down by her fast-growing family. They later acquired some income from her father's estate and travelled to the Far East, performing plays and experiencing different cultures. Her first book, When We Were Strolling Players in the East (1894) gives an account of those travels and was closely followed by Quaint Korea (1895). In 1896 the Milns moved to London and bought a monthly magazine which George edited. Louise contributed many articles to this and other periodicals and published further non-fiction works. Her literary career really took off a few years after her husband's death in 1917 when she turned to novel writing. Mostly romances set in China, her books were widely praised especially for their appreciation of the Orient and insight into the Chinese mind. This novel was first published in 1923.