The year 1919 in Jerusalem marked the conclusion of hundreds of years of Ottoman rule and the beginning of Britsh occupation, a period of great change that would transform the city. Felicity Ashbee’s captivating memoir gives the reader a truly original portrait of life in post-WWI Jerusalem as seen through the eyes of a spirited young English girl. The daughter of Charles Robert Ashbee, a disciple of William Morris and prominent player in the Arts and Crafts Movement, Ashbee spent four years, from age six to ten, living in Jerusalem while her father spearheaded the effort to architecturally and artistically restore the city. That golden period of restoration and peaceful mingling of faiths would be brief, thus imbuing the Ashbees’ time in Jerusalem with a retrospective poignancy. Vividly capturing a child’s ingenuous perceptions of place, Ashbee’s story recreates classic nostalgic moments of childhood experience and richly detailed views of her surroundings. Yet it also resonates with constant undertones of radical ideas, from the Ashbees’ own socialist tendencies and engagement in the modernist art movement to the establishment of religion-centered political factions that would erode much of Ashbee’s work soon after his departure. It is this union of childs-eye viewpoint and historical backdrop that makes Ashbee’s work such a compelling memoir.
C. R. Ashbee was, some would say, the key man in the British Arts and Crafts movement during the early decades of the twentieth century. Regarded as heir to William Morris in political belief and design reform, Ash bee (and his Guild of Handicraft) gained international fame in his own time and remains a legend today. While much has been written about him, little has been said of his wife. Now Felicity Ashbee breaks the silence in a compelling book about her mother. The book depicts Janet Ashbee as a gifted woman of emotional warmth, strength, and unconventionality, all of which enhanced her husband's work. An accomplished writer and thinker in her own right, Janet Ashbee's life revolved around great historic issues that still resonate today: the socially conscious Arts and Crafts movement, the role of women in contemporary affairs, and embattled ethnic relationships in the Middle East-not to mention marriage and sexual orientation, predicated upon her husband's vibrant and well-known homosexuality. A book of rare insight and significance, Janet Ashbee sheds welcome light on the Arts and Crafts movement and on women in oft-romanticized Victorian and Edwardian British culture.
C. R. Ashbee was, some would say, the key man in the British Arts and Crafts movement during the early decades of the twentieth century. Regarded as heir to William Morris in political belief and design reform, Ash bee (and his Guild of Handicraft) gained international fame in his own time and remains a legend today. While much has been written about him, little has been said of his wife. Now Felicity Ashbee breaks the silence in a compelling book about her mother. The book depicts Janet Ashbee as a gifted woman of emotional warmth, strength, and unconventionality, all of which enhanced her husband's work. An accomplished writer and thinker in her own right, Janet Ashbee's life revolved around great historic issues that still resonate today: the socially conscious Arts and Crafts movement, the role of women in contemporary affairs, and embattled ethnic relationships in the Middle East-not to mention marriage and sexual orientation, predicated upon her husband's vibrant and well-known homosexuality. A book of rare insight and significance, Janet Ashbee sheds welcome light on the Arts and Crafts movement and on women in oft-romanticized Victorian and Edwardian British culture.
The year 1919 in Jerusalem marked the conclusion of hundreds of years of Ottoman rule and the beginning of Britsh occupation, a period of great change that would transform the city. Felicity Ashbee’s captivating memoir gives the reader a truly original portrait of life in post-WWI Jerusalem as seen through the eyes of a spirited young English girl. The daughter of Charles Robert Ashbee, a disciple of William Morris and prominent player in the Arts and Crafts Movement, Ashbee spent four years, from age six to ten, living in Jerusalem while her father spearheaded the effort to architecturally and artistically restore the city. That golden period of restoration and peaceful mingling of faiths would be brief, thus imbuing the Ashbees’ time in Jerusalem with a retrospective poignancy. Vividly capturing a child’s ingenuous perceptions of place, Ashbee’s story recreates classic nostalgic moments of childhood experience and richly detailed views of her surroundings. Yet it also resonates with constant undertones of radical ideas, from the Ashbees’ own socialist tendencies and engagement in the modernist art movement to the establishment of religion-centered political factions that would erode much of Ashbee’s work soon after his departure. It is this union of childs-eye viewpoint and historical backdrop that makes Ashbee’s work such a compelling memoir.
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