Eleanor Scott was born Helen Leys in Middlesex in 1892. Her father was a barrister and novelist, and her early education was provided by her mother, Ellen, who prepared both of her daughters for going on to Oxford – it’s important to note that the first female students attended Oxford in 1879, but they couldn’t, officially, graduate until 1920. Before that, women had to travel to Trinity College in Dublin to receive their qualifications. After the Great War, Helen became a teacher, and eventually, Principal of an Oxford teacher training college. Her first short story to appear in print was The Room, in October 1923, credited to H. M. Leys. In 1928, the first work bearing the pen name Eleanor Scott appeared: the controversial novel War Among Ladies, which was published by Ernest Benn. Her final novel, Puss in the Corner was published in November 1934.