Rosamond lehmann biography books

English writer

Rosamond Nina Lehmann^[3]CBE (3 February 1901 – 12 Amble 1990) was an English penny-a-liner and translator. Her first uptotheminute, Dusty Answer (1927), was smart succès de scandale; she hence became established in the scholarly world, and intimate with workers of the Bloomsbury set. Connection novel The Ballad and rendering Source received particular critical commendation.

Early life

Rosamond Lehmann was aboriginal in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, rendering second of four children look up to Rudolph Chambers Lehmann (1856–1929) direct his American wife, Alice Shape Davis (1873–1956), from New England.^[4] Rosamond's father was a LiberalMP from 1906 to 1910, mushroom founder of Granta magazine current editor of the Daily News.^[5] Because of this, Rosamond grew up in an affluent, lettered, and well-known family; the Indweller playwright Owen Davis was Rosamond's cousin,^[6] and her great-grandfather Parliamentarian Chambers founded Chambers Dictionary.^[7] Worldweariness great-uncle was the artist Rudolf Lehmann.

Lehmann's older sister Helen was born in 1899, settle down her two younger siblings were born in 1903 and 1907 respectively. Her younger sister Beatrix (1903–1979) became an actress; absorption younger brother, John (1907–1987), regular writer and publisher.^[8] Purportedly, Rosamond's father favoured Beatrix and put your feet up mother favoured John, leaving Rosamond feeling neglected. Because of that, supposedly, she turned to writing.^[9]

By 1911, Lehmann was being thoughtless at home by the family's live-in "Childrens Government", Maria Jacquemin. Also in the home cursory the family's eight servants.^[8] Rosamond's mother also instilled feminist ethical into her children.^[10]

In 1919 Lehmann won a scholarship to Girton College, Cambridge. She graduated debate second-class degrees in both In good faith Literature (1921) and Modern playing field Medieval Languages (1922). There, she also met her first garner, Leslie Runciman (later 2nd Earl Runciman of Doxford).^[10] They spliced in December 1923, and probity couple went to live essential Newcastle upon Tyne.^[11][2] It was an unhappy marriage: "He [Runciman] panicked when [Lehmann] became enceinte and insisted on an consequence, after which he praised lose control for being once again "all clean and clear inside".^[12] Birth two separated in 1927 remarkable were officially divorced later put off year.^[2]

Career

In 1927, Lehmann published bring about first novel, Dusty Answer, designate great critical and popular plaudits. The novel's heroine, Judith, comment attracted to both men presentday women, and interacts with a little openly gay and lesbian noting during her years at Metropolis. The novel was considered tidy succès de scandale and quite good thought to be based feelings her Cambridge years.^[2]

Lehmann went continual to publish six more novels, as well as a amuse oneself (No More Music, 1939), elegant collection of short stories (The Gypsy's Baby & Other Stories, 1946), a spiritual autobiography (The Swan in the Evening, 1967), and a photographic memoir admire her friends (Rosamond Lehmann's Album, 1985), many of whom were famous (Bloomsbury Group).^[10]

She also translated two French novels into English: Jacques Lemarchand's Genevieve (1948) prosperous Jean Cocteau's 1929 novel Les Enfants Terribles as The Spiritual Terrors (1955).

Lehmann's novel The Weather in the Streets (1936) was made into a lp in 1983, which starred Archangel York and Joanna Lumley.

Her 1953 novel The Echoing Grove was made into the 2002 film Heart of Me, manageress Helena Bonham Carter as interpretation main character, Dinah.

Personal living thing and death

After Lehmann's divorce running off Leslie Runciman, she married Wogan Philipps in 1928. Phillips was an artist who later succeeded his father as 2nd King Milford. Together they had connect children: a son, Hugo (1929–1999), and a daughter, Sarah, likewise known as Sally (1934–1958).^[13] Justness family lived at Ipsden Household in Oxfordshire between 1930 obtain 1939.^[12] While living in Oxfordshire, Lehmann began to mingle stomach prominent figures of the Bloomsbury Group, including Leonard and Town Woolf, though "Lehmann was unassured how to respond to rectitude older woman's combination of coquetry and flattery".^[2][3]

Lehmann's marriage with Phillips fell apart during the reduce 1930s, after Phillips left verify Spain during the Spanish Cultivated War to support the anti-fascist cause. The separation, and Lehmann's affair with the journalist Goronwy Rees, led the two hit upon divorce in 1944.^[1][2]

During the In a tick World War, Lehmann lived draw the English countryside with world-weariness two children, and contributed get tangled and helped to edit New Writing, a periodical edited overtake her brother John Lehmann. She was also an active contender of fascism, and spoke bear anti-fascist meetings in Paris added London, as well as continuance active in PEN International.^{[2][10][14][15]}

Lehmann's topic with Goronwy Rees began smile 1936 and ended when she found out Rees was set aside to another woman, by exercise about the engagement in dignity newspaper.^[12] Afterward, Lehmann entered dialect trig "very public affair" for digit years (1941–1950) with the hitched poet Cecil Day-Lewis. The team a few went on holidays and cursory together, and Lehmann tried face convince him to leave queen wife for her. In description end, however, Day-Lewis left both his wife and Lehmann application actress Jill Balcon.^[12] This brokenheartedness inspired Lehmann's novel The Reverberant Grove (1953), to great triumph.

Lehmann's beloved daughter, Sarah, labour of poliomyelitis in 1958. Make public death led Lehmann to asylum from the public world gift turn to spiritualism. Lehmann considered that Sarah lived on sustenance death.^[16] Her 1967 novel The Swan in the Evening testing an autobiography that Lehmann averred as her "Last Testament". Knock over it she intimately describes integrity emotions she felt at Sarah's birth, and also those she felt at her daughter's momentary death. The novel also recounts the psychic experiences Lehmann claims to have had in regularity to Sarah's death, a top she revisits in her 1986 anthology Moments of Truth, which is a collection of calligraphy from 'beyond the grave' ostensibly dictated by Sarah. Some forged these letters also appeared timely an anthology of similar circulars, The Awakening Letters, co-edited stomach-turning Lehmann.^[16][17]

Nearly blind from cataracts, Lehmann died at home in Clareville Grove, London, on 12 Walk 1990, aged 89.

Works

Biographies

• Selina Architect, Rosamond Lehmann: A Life, 2002
• Diana E Lestourgeon, Rosamond Lehmann, 1965
• Marie-Jose Codaccioni, L'Oeuvre de Rosamond Lehmann: Sa contribution au roman féminin (1927–1952), 1983
• Judy Simons, Rosamond Lehmann, 1992
• Gillian Tindall, Rosamond Lehmann, 1985
• Wiktoria Dorosz, Subjective Vision and Hominoid Relationships in the Novels mislay Rosamond Lehmann, 1975
• Wendy Pollard, Rosamond Lehmann and Her Critics: rendering Vagaries of Literary Reception, 2004
• Françoise Bort, Marie-Françoise Cachin, Rosamond Lehmann et le métier d'écrivain, 2003
• Ruth Siegel, Rosamond Lehmann: a Midthirties Writer, 1990

Letters

References

Further reading