Winifred Holtby met Jean McWilliam in a WAAC camp at Huchenneville in France very near the end of the First World War. McWilliam was the camp commander, and Holtby her new hostel forewoman. They took to each other instantly, became firm friends, and lifelong correspondents. Through a world overshadowed by war in both directions, they kept up a lively discussion of events, politics, literature and life, even when McWilliam relocated to South Africa in pursuit of her teaching career. Seeing each other very rarely in the flesh ...
Read More
Winifred Holtby met Jean McWilliam in a WAAC camp at Huchenneville in France very near the end of the First World War. McWilliam was the camp commander, and Holtby her new hostel forewoman. They took to each other instantly, became firm friends, and lifelong correspondents. Through a world overshadowed by war in both directions, they kept up a lively discussion of events, politics, literature and life, even when McWilliam relocated to South Africa in pursuit of her teaching career. Seeing each other very rarely in the flesh, their relationship was played out in the written word poignantly and entertainingly. "I shall be really disappointed if I go through life without once being properly in love. As a writer, I feel it my duty to my work - but they are all so helpless and such children. How can one feel thrilled?" These vibrant letters are Holtby's side of the correspondence, and outline the extraordinarily varied elements of her personality: her dynamism, her political savvy and commitment, as well as her bright wit, and her tenderness. They also bring to life some of the most important of her literary friendships, especially those with Vera Brittain and Stella Benson. Her pithy and self-deprecating comment on her progress in writing, and on the literature of her time, amounts to a hugely valuable document in itself, let alone the wisdom of what she has to say about life and living it. "Novel-writing is not creation, it is selection. Once characters have been born they assume a complete life about which everything exists, waiting to be recorded. The whole of art lies in the omissions." One of the finest letter-compilations of the between-the-wars period, this searching and candid book was first published in 1937, two years after Holtby's untimely death.
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Used-Good. VG hardback in Good dustjacket. 1st edition, 4th impression. No inscriptions or annotations; page edges a little foxed; binding tight; dust jacket worn and yellowed, not price-clipped.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
First Edition. Hardback. Dust Jacket. 8vo. pp 463. Original publisher's white flecked cloth, lettered green at the spine. Collection of letters written to Jean Findlay McWilliam. Portrait frontispiece. Neat ink date on front endpaper, otherwise very good indeed in very good dust jacket, with very slight creasing and slight nicking at edges. Decent copy.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Used-Good. Good hardback in Good dustjacket. No inscriptions or annotations; some foxing; binding tight; oatmeal cloth browned at bottom edge of front board; dust jacket yellowed and foxed, with wear at edges; dj not price-clipped.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Acceptable. Acceptable condition. No Dust Jacket (women authors, personal correspondence) A readable, intact copy that may have noticeable tears and wear to the spine. All pages of text are present, but they may include extensive notes and highlighting or be heavily stained. Includes reading copy only books.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very Good. No Jacket. Book Lightly soiled black-stamped salmon cloth, 1 corner bumped, aged endpapers, owner's info stamped FEP, a tad musty. Clean text. With b/w frontispiece: photo of author, 1898-1935. 32, 000 PB shelf.