Olga Stringfellow was a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 journalist and author of romantic and historical fiction.

History

Stringfellow was born in Auckland as Olga Elizabeth Brown. She was educated at the Otago Girls' High School

Otago Girls' High School

Otago Girls' High School is a secondary school in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. It was opened 6 February 1871, after a long campaign by educationalist Learmonth Whyte Dalrymple...

 in Dunedin, and the Elam School of Fine Arts

Elam School of Fine Arts

The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded in 1890 by John Edward Elam is a part of Auckland University. Students study degrees in fine art with an emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach.-History:...

.

In 1943 she was married (later divorced) and moved to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in 1949. After a time in journalism, with the Modern Woman and The Sketch

The Sketch

The Sketch was a British illustrated newspaper weekly, which focused on high society and the aristocracy. It ran for 2,989 issues between February 1, 1893 and June 17, 1959. It was published by the Illustrated London News Company and was primarily a society magazine with regular features on royalty...

, and as a columnist for the Scottish Daily Express

Daily Express

The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...

, she became an author. Her published works include the historical novels Mary Bravender (1960), set at the time of the New Zealand Wars, and A Gift for the Sultan (1962), based on the true account of a Scottish woman captured by pirates, sold into slavery, and eventually becaming a wife of the Sultan of Morocco.

Stringfellow was a recognised touch healer. She counted Middle Eastern princes and New York millionaires amongst her patients.

In later years Stringfellow lived at Hartley Wintney

Hartley Wintney

Hartley Wintney is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire.-Location and character:Hartley Wintney is in the Hart district of North-East Hampshire...

, near Basingstoke

Basingstoke

Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

.

Books out of print

• Olga Stringfellow, Mary Bravender (1960)
• Olga Stringfellow, A Gift for the Sultan (1962)