Question: Who wrote the 1942 children's novel which was a Christian allegory loosely modelled on the work been cited as the first novel written in English?

Context articles: The Wicked World
Shadowmancer
Russian Nights
The Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan
The Doctor of Stalingrad
Quý Dương
The Underground Man (novel)
The Land of Far-Beyond
Wormwood (Taylor novel)

The Wicked World is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts.
 It opened at the Haymarket Theatre on 4 January 1873 and ran for a successful 145 performances, closing on 21 June 1873.
 The play is an allegory loosely based on a short illustrated story of the same title by Gilbert, written in 1871 and published in Tom Hood's "Comic Annual", about how pure fairies cope with a sudden introduction to them of "mortal love."
Shadowmancer is a fantasy novel by G. P. Taylor, first published privately in 2002.
 It is a Christian allegory in the form of a fantasy adventure, akin to C. S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia".
 Taylor wrote the book to counteract what he saw as a rise in atheist propaganda in children's books such as "His Dark Materials".
 It is the first of four books generally referred to as The Shadowmancer Quartet.
 The book was a number one best seller in the UK and the US.
Russian Nights (Русские ночи / Russkie nochi) is a 1844 collection of philosophical essays and novellas by Vladimir Odoyevsky.
 The work is a sprawling Gothic 'frame-novel', built on romantic principles inspired by Friedrich von Hardenberg (Novalis, 1772-1801) and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling (1775-1854), loosely modelled on the "Noctes Atticae", and which like E.T.A. Hoffmann mixes genres and styles.
The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan.
 It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print.
 It has also been cited as the first novel written in English.
John Bunyan ( ; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory "The Pilgrim's Progress".
 In addition to "The Pilgrim's Progress", Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, many of them expanded sermons.
The Doctor of Stalingrad (German: Der Arzt von Stalingrad also known as Battle Inferno) is a 1958 German drama film directed by Géza von Radványi and starring O.E. Hasse, Eva Bartok and Hannes Messemer.
 It is an adaptation of the 1956 novel "The Doctor of Stalingrad" by Heinz G. Konsalik.
 The film addresses the issue of German Prisoners of War held by the Soviet Union in camps well into the 1950s.
 The principal character Doctor Fritz Böhler was loosely modelled on Ottmar Kohler, known as the "Angel of Stalingrad".
NSND Phạm Quý Dương (Hải Dương, 1937 - 28 June 2011 at Hanoi) was a Vietnamese classical singer, and vocal coach at the Vietnam National Academy of Music.
 He was selected by Russian voice coaches as the singer to sing the lead baritone role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (opera) at the Hanoi Opera in 1960, thus becoming Vietnam's first opera singer.
 He completed his training with Belcanto arias, some of which had been retained in the opera's repertoire from the French colonial period.
 In later years, together with NSND Trần Hiếu and NSƯT Trung Kiên, Quý Dương was counted as one of those affectionately known as the "3C Trio" (Vietnamese "Tam ca 3C," from "tam ca 3 “cụ”", old) - a term loosely modelled on Europe's Three Tenors, though the three did not perform as a trio.
The Underground Man (1997) is a novel by Mick Jackson.
 Critically acclaimed, it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for that year.
 It shows the life of an eccentric and reclusive Victorian Duke, loosely modelled on William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland.
 His latest scheme involves building a set of tunnels beneath his estate.
The Land of Far-Beyond is a children's novel written by Enid Blyton and published in 1942.
 It is a Christian allegory loosely modelled on John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" (1678).
Wormwood is a fantasy sequel to Graham Taylor's "Shadowmancer".
 It follows the adventures of the book's two main protagonists, Dr. Sabian Blake and his servant girl, Agetta Lamian.
 The work is a Christian allegory.