Douglas, Norman (1868-1952), a British novelist and essayist, is best known for his witty and satirical novel South Wind (1917). The book is set on an imaginary island called Nepenthe, based on the island of Capri. The word nepenthe means a drug capable of banishing sorrow and fear. The central theme of South Wind is the nature of truth. Thomas Heard, an Anglican bishop, receives an education in the complexity of truth and a doctrine of individualism. Douglas’s books about the Mediterranean region include Siren Land (1911), Fountains in the Sand (1912), and Old Calabria (1915). He wrote two other novels, They Went (1921) and In the Beginning (1928).
George Norman Douglas was born on Dec. 8, 1868, near Aberdeen, Scotland, but lived most of his life abroad, primarily in Italy. He died on Feb. 9, 1952.
