(Full names Edith Onone Somerville, also cited as Edith Anna Oenone, pseudonym Guilles Herring; and Violet Florence Martin, pseudonym Martin Ross) Irish short story writers, novelists, essayists, and memoirists.Irish cousins Somerville and Ross collaborated on many novels, short stories, travel books, memoirs, and essays during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century. From the time they published their first novel, An Irish Cousin (1889), the authors enjoyed great popularity. Their most critically acclaimed work is the novel The Real Charlotte (1894), but they are perhaps best known for three volumes of humorous stories-Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. (1899), Further Experiences of an Irish R.M. (1908), and In Mr. Knox's Country (1915), which were later collected together as The Irish R.M. and His Experiences (1928).Somerville and Ross wrote in a variety of genres, their predominant works being novels, short stories, and collections of short incidental pieces. The authors show a clear concern with Anglo-Irish society, a pride in their family history, and a deep understanding and genuine depiction of the Irish character. The literary output of Somerville and Ross includes both serious and humorous books. Alongside more somber novels such as The Real Charlotte, for instance, are Naboth's Vineyard (1891), a study of Irish peasant life, and Beggars on Horseback (1895), a work comprised of travel sketches that are evidence of the women's love of their Irish countryside.