Elinor Mordaunt (1872 - 1942) was an English author, writer and traveller. She lived extensively in Mauritius, Australia and the East Indies, which provided the inspiration and background for many of her works.

Mrs. Scarr is a tense and mysterious ghost story set in Mauritius, a place where local mythology and European morals sit uneasily alongside one another. Mrs. Scarr is a beautiful woman of French origin who defies local cultural norms. She goes out alone at night and wears white rather than the traditional black. And her husband, who is a debauched sea captain, is mysteriously plagued by a single white moth wherever he goes.