Margery Williams - Marriage, Children and The Influence of Walter de La Mare's Writings

Marriage, Children and The Influence of Walter De La Mare's Writings

While visiting her publisher, Margery Williams met Francisco Bianco, an Italian living in London, who was employed as the manager of one of the book departments. They were married in 1904 and became the parents of a son, Cecco and a daughter, Pamela, who twenty years later would be illustrating some of her mother's books. Margery considered motherhood a full-time job, requiring suspension of her writing activities.

In 1907 the family left England, traveling through Europe for the next three years, eventually settling in Turin, Italy. In August 1914 Italy, along with the rest of Europe, was plunged into World War I and Francisco Bianco found himself in an Italian Army uniform fighting for his country along with millions of other soldiers from many nations. While remaining on the homefront with the children, Margery Bianco gained hope and inspiration from the works of the poet she called her "spiritual mentor", Walter de la Mare, who she felt truly understood the mindset of children.

In 1914, Williams wrote a horror novel, The Thing in the Woods, about a werewolf in the Pennsylvania region. The Thing in the Woods was later republished in the US under the pseudonym "Harper Williams". The Thing in the Woods was known to H.P. Lovecraft, and some commentators think it may have influenced Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror".