What was she? Not a child, for she was seventeen, and taller than Kitty: not a girl, for she floated like a feather, and flew into trees like a bird; not a spirit - she was human to touch. But to-night she was all made of mischief and magic, remote form him, and yet calling him to here . . .' At thirty-two, her mother dead, Agatha Bodenham finds herself quite alone. She summons back to life the only friend she ever knew, Clarissa, the dream companion of her childhood. At first Clarissa comes by night, and then by day, gathering substance in the warmth of Agatha's obsessive love until it seems that others too can see her. See, but not touch, for Agatha has made her love child for herself alone. No man may approach her elfin creation of perfect beauty. If he does, the love which summoned her can spirit her away . . . The Love Child (1927) was Edith Olivier's first novel, acknowledged as a minor masterpiece: a perfectly imagined fable and a moving and perceptive portrayal of unfulfilled maternal love.
When the War drove her to fill the house with strange guests, it also drove her to fill her diary with strange thoughts... This broadened hospitality, and these unaccustomed contacts, completely changed for the time the character of English country life." In Night Thoughts of a Country Landlady, Edith Olivier explores the diaries left to her by her friend and neighbour, Miss Emma Nightingale. The account explores the arrival of both evacuees and soldiers to Miss Nightingale's village after the outbreak of World War II. Her musings on acting as a boarding house during this time are vivid and appealing chronicles of both rural life in World War II, and the varied and engaging individuals who were involved in this great struggle. This fascinating work is a record of the war as told through the people left behind in England to live their lives against its all-encompassing backdrop, and who did so with quiet contemplation and an overwhelming sense of hospitality.
Nowadays, one meets fewer 'Characters' than of old, and life seems to be far more uniform. Everyone knew some oddities in their childhood, curious people who looked and behaved quite unlike others, but such pronounced individuality is rare to-day." In the mesmerising autobiography, Without Knowing Mr Walkley, acclaimed novelist Edith Olivier describes her remarkable life, which spanned the last decades of the nineteenth century, two world wars, and the birth of modern Britain. The daughter of a stern, traditional and fiercely charismatic Victorian rector, her journey begins with a childhood rooted in the timeless traditions of the Wiltshire countryside. From the start, Olivier's account is a treasure trove of historical knick-knacks and engaging anecdotes: from her studies at Oxford University in 1895 to her friendships with famous First World War poets, energetic efforts on behalf of the Women's Land Army and supernatural experiences on the Salisbury plains. Edith Olivier's wry and witty narrative vividly conjures the oddball characters, smells, sounds and sights of a bygone era.
This "landscape of the uplands" has been described as "an ocean of rolling grass"; and, with its distinct and yet unaccented separateness, it looks like the green eye of England.' Originally compiled by the near-blind Olivier in 1945-1946 and posthumously published three years after her death in 1951 by her niece Rosemary, Wiltshire is acknowledged as a credible early travel guide in which the county is truly brought to life. In Wiltshire, Edith Olivier paints a vivid portrait of her beloved homeland, describing in minute detail its history, character, towns and villages, people, landscape, customs and traditions. Dating back to the time of the Saxon invasions through to the birth of a modern, pre-war Wiltshire, and covering such vast subjects as its royal entertainments, sports and leisure pursuits, dialect, architecture and the collections contained within its great country houses, Olivier clearly depicts the personality and landscape of Wiltshire. Drawing on extensive research and containing entertaining anecdotes about famous historical figures travelling through the county, including Henry VIII and Shakespeare, as well as tales of highway robberies and early theories behind the origins of Stonehenge, Olivier has crafted a warm and informative account of a bygone era. Edith became mayor of Wilton in 1939 and her love of the place is clearly depicted in this great work.
A contemporary of Cecil Beaton, Siegfried Sassoon and Rex Whistler, Edith Olivier is best known for her first book, the novella, The Love Child but was the author of a variety of both fiction and non-fiction, as well as becoming the mayor of Wilton, Wiltshire, in 1939. In Dwarf's Blood, Olivier has crafted a moral tale, reflecting the Victorian values of her upbringing while also incorporating a psychological study of her main character, Sir Nicholas Roxerby, who comes to England from Australia after inheriting the estate of Brokeyates from his great-uncle. Happy in his ancestral home, with the backing of his mother's millions behind him, Nicholas marries into the local gentry and lives a satisfying life until the birth of his second child. Hans is full of persuasive charm and gifted genius, but to Nicholas's horror carries the 'dwarf's blood' of the title, and he cannot find it within himself to accept a child that brings with him the reminder of a family skeleton he would rather forget. In Nicholas's eyes, Hans suffers in comparison to his elder sister Portia, who is tall, healthy and beautiful, despite being completely insensitive, overbearing and unloveable; and for Althea, his wife, the cold-hearted rejection of her son by his father ruptures her happiness. Though a vivid work of realism, Dwarf's Blood incorporates a touch of the eeriness found within Olivier's first work, The Love Child, and was described as a masterpiece among contemporary novels upon first publication in 1931.
I sometimes think she is rather a vampire. . . . O no, not an evil one in any way, of course," Cynthia hastened to add, seeing Jane's shocked face. "But people of very strong character are demoralising to live with. One leaves everything to them, even the keeping of one's conscience." As a child Jane is dominated by her mother and grandmother, her character silenced and moulded by their formidable personalities. Living in their shadow, Jane fills her empty life with fantasy, until as a young adult an invite to a party opens her world to the possibility of choosing her own path - and even a rebellious romance. Can Jane escape her stifled youth and discover her own life, or has the mask she has always worn for her family 'grown so close to the face that it would never come off'? As Far as Jane's Grandmother's (1928) was Edith Olivier's second novel after her miniature masterpiece The Love Child (1927) won huge critical acclaim.
All his life, he had so much enjoyed getting into scrapes, that he could never think of a better way out of one than to jump forthwith into another.' Alphonse Biskin is the lowly footman for the highly respected Captain Lemaur and his invalid, autocratic wife in Florence. Quick to dismiss him as incompetent, the Lemaurs are oblivious to the fact that their footman, the son of a working class couple from London, has a penchant for mischief and adventure, imitating others and spreading a web of seemingly harmless and humorous lies for his own amusement. From a director of a museum in Barcelona to a Frenchman of noble ancestry, from Florence to London . . . Alphonse's impersonations draw him into social circles and events that he could otherwise only dream about. With a combination of natural charm and good fortune, Alphonse seems destined to always get away with these deceptions - but will his tricks eventually catch up with him? The Triumphant Footman (1930) was Edith Olivier's third, and most cheerful and light-hearted novel.
. . . let the townsman say what he will, country life has more variety . . .' A contemporary of Cecil Beaton, Siegfried Sassoon and Rex Whistler, Edith Olivier is best known for her first book, the novella, The Love Child but was the author of a variety of both fiction and non-fiction, as well as becoming the mayor of Wilton, Wiltshire, in 1939. In this biographical memoir, written during the Second World War and subtitled 'A Non-Grammarian's Chapbook', Olivier takes the five grammatical moods - infinitive, imperative, indicative, subjunctive and conditional - and uses them to describe village and country life in her beloved Wiltshire as it was in 1941, the year of first publication. Covering a range of topics - from the folklore and traditions of the local area, to the weather and landscape itself - Edith Olivier's Country Moods and Tenses captures a moment and describes a world which has, in many ways, been lost to us.
The Seraphim Room, by Edith Olivier, is the story of Lilian and Emily, two half-sisters who live together under the watch of their domineering father. Together they whittle their days away under the claustrophobic roof of the dusty and decaying Chilvester House. Shut away from the wider world, it looks like the two siblings might grow to be old spinsters together. That is until Emily encounters the charming Christopher Honythorne on a rare evening out. Emily basks in her new-found freedom and realises that there is a whole other world beyond the isolated existence she has experienced. But when Emily quickly becomes infatuated with Christopher, their tangled interactions could soon bring more misery than joy to Emily's secluded life. Particularly as Chilvester House already has a very unfortunate life expectancy for the women who live under its roof . . .
. . . let the townsman say what he will, country life has more variety . . .'A contemporary of Cecil Beaton, Siegfried Sassoon and Rex Whistler, Edith Olivier is best known for her first book, the novella, The Love Child but was the author of a variety of both fiction and non-fiction, as well as becoming the mayor of Wilton, Wiltshire, in 1939.In this biographical memoir, written during the Second World War and subtitled 'A Non-Grammarian's Chapbook', Olivier takes the five grammatical moods - infinitive, imperative, indicative, subjunctive and conditional - and uses them to describe village and country life in her beloved Wiltshire as it was in 1941, the year of first publication. Covering a range of topics - from the folklore and traditions of the local area, to the weather and landscape itself - Country Moods and Tenses captures a moment and describes a world which has, in many ways, been lost to us.
This special ebook edition includes four of Edith Wharton's best-known novels: The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and Madame de Treymes.
These carefully chosen selections from Edith Wharton's travel writing convey the writer's control of her craft. Wharton disliked the generality of guidebooks and focused instead on the "parentheses of travel"--the undiscovered hidden corners of Europe, Morocco, and the Mediterranean. Included is an excerpt from Wharton's unpublished memoir, The Cruise of Vanadis, as well as front line depictions of Lorraine and the Vosges during World War I. Photos.
This unique collection is a rich representation of the works of one of the greatest 20th-century American writers, best known for her novels depicting the stifling conformity and ceremoniousness of the upper-class New York society into which she was born.
The Pretext is a short story by Edith Wharton. Edith Wharton ( born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 - August 11, 1937) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928 and 1930. Wharton combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humorous, incisive novels and short stories of social and psychological insight. She was well acquainted with many of her era's other literary and public figures, including Theodore Roosevelt. Wharton was born to George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Stevens Rhinelander in New York City. She had two brothers, Frederic Rhinelander and Henry Edward. The saying "Keeping up with the Joneses" is said to refer to her father's family. She was also related to the Rensselaer family, the most prestigious of the old patroon families. She had a lifelong friendship with her Rhinelander niece, landscape architect Beatrix Farrand of Reef Point in Bar Harbor, Maine. In 1885, at 23, she married Edward (Teddy) Robbins Wharton, who was 12 years older. From a well-established Philadelphia family, he was a sportsman and gentleman of the same social class and shared her love of travel. From the late 1880s until 1902, he suffered acute depression, and the couple ceased their extensive travel. At that time his depression manifested as a more serious disorder, after which they lived almost exclusively at The Mount, their estate designed by Edith Wharton. In 1908 her husband's mental state was determined to be incurable. She divorced him in 1913. Around the same time, Edith was overcome with the harsh criticisms leveled by the naturalist writers. Later in 1908 she began an affair with Morton Fullerton, a journalist for The Times, in whom she found an intellectual partner. In addition to novels, Wharton wrote at least 85 short stories. She was also a garden designer, interior designer, and taste-maker of her time. She wrote several design books, including her first published work, The Decoration of Houses of 1897, co-authored by Ogden Codman. Another is the generously illustrated Italian Villas and Their Gardens of 1904.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.