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. She started to look for work. She found a flat and met up with old friends who were mostly writers and artists. She would later use this as background for her novels "Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club" and "Strong Poison". She was short of money and she was dependent on help from her father. At this stage, in the early 1920s, she met another man who would cause her heartache. His name was John Cournous and he was of Russian origin but had spent many years in America. She fell in love with him, and this time, her man friend responded but like Whelpton, he was not in love with her. Like Whelpton, he was 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 believed 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. Her relationship with Cornous did not go well. 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 wanted her to become his mistress and said that he did not believe in marriage, or want children. She 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..