Sayers in London

 On her return to England, Dorothy was depressed by the end of her relationship with Eric Whelpton but she was always a positive person, and she threw herself into finding work.  She found a flat in Bloomsbury, and met up with old friends who were mostly writers and artists.  She would later use this as background for her novel "Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club" and "Strong Poison"...

She did occasional teaching jobs, and found some work translating French documents for  a Polish organisation..but money was tight and she was still dependent on help from her father.  At this stage, in the early 1920s, she met another man who would cause her a lot of heartache.  His name was John Cournous and he was of Russian origin but had spent many years in America.  He had made his way from poverty to working as  a writer and by the time Dorothy knew him, he was very much a part of the Bloomsbury set.  

She fell in love with him, and this time, her man friend responded but like Whelpton, he was not in love with her.  She was passionately attached to him but he cared a lot less deeply for her. 

Like Whelpton, he was rather pretentious and looked down on her interests such as reading detective fiction, doing crosswords and going to the cinema.  She enjoyed other pursuits but was not snobbish about intellectual matters.   She had begun to write her first Lord Peter novel and beleived that she had created a character (aristocratic detective) who would do well and make money for her.  

She then secured a job in an advertising agency, where her talent for writing would be useful and she hoped to write detective stories in her spare time, and give up the day job later.

Her relationship with Cornous was volatile.  They had some sexual contact but she was essentially a conservative minded girl who did not eagerly embrace the freedoms of the 1920s.. Sexual freedom for women was still a new idea and she was very religious.  Cornous however wanted her to become his mistress and said that he did not believe in marriage, or want children.. and that he wanted her to be ready to yield to him.  She wanted children..  and felt that it would be an unhappy relationship and sinful, if she became his mistress.   They argued about these issues, and Dorothy felt the strain of an unhappy love affair..  

She enjoyed her new job at the advertising agency, and continued to work on the Lord Peter books.....