Writer Jane Gardam died aged 96 a few days ago and writer Tessa Hadley pays tribute to her in
The Guardian.
Her first book, A Long Way from Verona, was written for children and published in 1971, when she was in her early 40s. “I ought to tell you at the beginning,” announces Jessica Vye in the first sentence, “that I am not quite normal, having had a violent experience at the age of nine.” In the book, clever bookish girls, at a private school in wartime, are hungry for adventures and also for tea with cress sandwiches and chocolate eclairs; they belong to that class beloved of British fiction in the old days, educated people fallen on hard times. Jessica’s father has left his job as a schoolmaster to follow his vocation as a poor curate.
The Summer After the Funeral, published in 1973, begins with the death of Athene Price’s elderly vicar father, when his young wife and children have to move out of the vicarage with no money. Athene believes she’s a reincarnation of Emily Brontë; Jessica has mentioned Henry James, Chopin and Shakespeare by the end of her second chapter. These books belong to the tail-end of that rich period of English middle-class children’s writing, which depended upon an audience of sophisticated and informed young readers; it was partly through the books that their readers grew sophisticated and informed.
Times Now News lists '10 Classic books that will break your heart slowly and beautifully' including
8. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
Often overshadowed by her sisters, Anne Brontë delivers one of the most radical and emotionally powerful novels of the 19th century. Through Helen’s courageous escape from an abusive marriage, Brontë examines love, autonomy, and endurance. The novel’s heartbreak stems not from grand tragedy, but from daily degradation and the slow erosion of hope. Yet Helen’s strength shines through, making her sorrow not only moving but monumental. Brontë offers no easy solace—only the raw dignity of resistance and integrity.
0 comments:
Post a Comment