On the Face of the Waters

Flora Annie Steel (2 April 1847 - 12 April 1929) was an English writer who was noted for writing books set in British India or otherwise connected to it.She was born Flora Annie Webster in Sudbury, Middlesex, the sixth child of George Webster. In 1867, she married Henry William Steel, a member of the Indian Civil Service, and for the next twenty-two years lived in India (until 1889), chiefly in the Punjab, with which most of her books are connected. She grew deeply interested in native Indian life and began to urge educational reforms on the government of India. Mrs Steel became an Inspectress of Government and Aided Schools in the Punjab and also worked with John Lockwood Kipling, Rudyard Kipling's father, to foster Indian arts and crafts. 3] When her husband's health was weak, Flora Annie Steel took over some of his responsibilities.