You know how when you learn a new word you suddenly start seeing it everywhere? Your piece was one of those moments for me because I had just been reading about Rosamond Lehmann and the biography of Sir Stephen Runciman. I have never heard of her before and now I see her name everywhere
Oh, thank you for these - I agree that A Note in Music is very underrated, compared to the rest of Lehmann's output. I didn't know the Holtby, so thank you for that, too!
I'm with you on the 20s and 30s as a taking-off point for women's writing. It's not coincidental, surely, that the "Queens of Crime" found a good fit for themselves in the emerging genre of detective fiction, and came to dominate it.
Do you know Nicola Humble's The Feminine Middlebrow Novel 1920s to 1950s, which is very acute on all this stuff. And two by Diana Wallace are ace, too: The Women's Historical Novel 1900-2000. and her book Sisters and Rivals in British Women's Fiction 1914-39.
Excellent piece about two very good writers who were so important in showing how women could write about life after marriage with both realism and passion. Thank you.
Thank you for this - I actually just started reading Anderby Wold last week so this is great timing! And I love Rosamund Lehman's Invitation to the Waltz but have never read any others so will have to remedy that too.
Anderby Wold sounds fascinating and I'll have to seek out a copy. I hardly know anything about Holtby except via Vera Brittain.
But the geography nerd in me can't help observing that the cover illustration doesn't look like East Yorkshire. More like the Northern Lake District, Howgill Fells, or some parts of the Yorkshire Dales.
(And before someone as pedantic as I am says it: I'm well aware that the Howgills are in Cumbria, but they are part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.)
You know how when you learn a new word you suddenly start seeing it everywhere? Your piece was one of those moments for me because I had just been reading about Rosamond Lehmann and the biography of Sir Stephen Runciman. I have never heard of her before and now I see her name everywhere
Oh, thank you for these - I agree that A Note in Music is very underrated, compared to the rest of Lehmann's output. I didn't know the Holtby, so thank you for that, too!
I'm with you on the 20s and 30s as a taking-off point for women's writing. It's not coincidental, surely, that the "Queens of Crime" found a good fit for themselves in the emerging genre of detective fiction, and came to dominate it.
Do you know Nicola Humble's The Feminine Middlebrow Novel 1920s to 1950s, which is very acute on all this stuff. And two by Diana Wallace are ace, too: The Women's Historical Novel 1900-2000. and her book Sisters and Rivals in British Women's Fiction 1914-39.
"With apologies to the Dream Academy." Love it!
Your essays are so persuasive in terms of encouraging me to go out and read writers that I have not yet engaged with...
If I'm honest, I prefer Holtby, down to earth, heart in the right place. But Lehmann writes beautifully about love
Excellent piece about two very good writers who were so important in showing how women could write about life after marriage with both realism and passion. Thank you.
These sound great. I've never heard of either. I will hunt them down.
Very British! But well worth a look. Domestic, writing on a small stage, but every word perfect
Can't wait to read this - recently added the holtby to my 'to read', list and picked up two novels by Lehmann last month 😊
https://open.substack.com/pub/harkness/p/winifred-holtby-chronicler-of-the-e48?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=gqpmg
This is her masterpiece!
noted. ;)
These sound great! I'd only heard of Holtby through her connection to Vera Brittain, so must give these a go.
Thank you for this - I actually just started reading Anderby Wold last week so this is great timing! And I love Rosamund Lehman's Invitation to the Waltz but have never read any others so will have to remedy that too.
Anderby Wold sounds fascinating and I'll have to seek out a copy. I hardly know anything about Holtby except via Vera Brittain.
But the geography nerd in me can't help observing that the cover illustration doesn't look like East Yorkshire. More like the Northern Lake District, Howgill Fells, or some parts of the Yorkshire Dales.
(And before someone as pedantic as I am says it: I'm well aware that the Howgills are in Cumbria, but they are part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.)
Very well spotted! Apparently it's Springtime in Eskdale by J McIntosh Patrick, so nowhere near, or like, the East Yorkshire wolds. Poor show, Virago!
Yes, in a different context it could be enough to put me off picking up a book.
Thanks for more great reading suggestions. They both sound like excellent books.