Locke (1863-1930) was a British novelist, dramatist and short story writer born in British Guiana to English parents who then moved to Trinidad and Tobago in the year following his birth. Aged three, Locke was sent to England to be educated where he remained for nine years before returning to Trinidad to attend prep school at Queens Royal College. There he won an exhibition to attend St John's College, Cambridge so returned to England in 1881, graduating with honours in Mathematics in 1884 despite his dislike of the subject. After leaving Cambridge he took up teaching for several years and in 1894 published his first novel. However, he did not achieve any real success for another decade with The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne (1905) and The Beloved Vagabond (1906). This novel set against the backdrop of the First World War was published in 1917 and reached No. 3 on the bestseller list for that year in the US.