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The Diaries of Sylvia Townsend Warner
In October 1927, Sylvia Townsend Warner was given a new notebook. At the end of the month, she began to write the diary which she was to keep until her death in 1978. Written for her own eye, rich in description and observation, her diary contains the details of her life, from the antics of her cats and plans for her garden, to her thoughts on friendship, writing and death. From the anecdotal early years to her love for her lifelong companion Valentine Ackland, through World War II and her traumatic near breakdown in 1949, to the final strange double life of her bereavement, the diary paints a striking picture of the writer's life, of the workings of her mind and the making of her art.
Lolly Willowes : or, the loving huntsman
Lolly Willowes: or, The Loving Huntsman by Sylvia Townsend Warner is a captivating and unconventional novel that blends elements of fantasy, feminism, and dark comedy. The story follows Laura Willowes, a spinster who defies societal expectations by embracing a life of independence and adventure in the English countryside. After the death of her overbearing father and the departure of her family, Laura, or “Lolly,” relocates to a remote village where she finds solace and freedom. However, her quiet life takes a fantastical turn when she becomes involved with witchcraft and a mysterious pact with the devil. Warner’s novel is celebrated for its unique exploration of themes such as autonomy, the role of women in society, and the conflict between personal desires and societal norms. With its rich prose, sharp wit, and imaginative narrative, Lolly Willowes offers a profound and entertaining commentary on the constraints placed on women and the transformative power of embracing one’s true self. It’s a must-read for those interested in literary fiction with a touch of the supernatural and a deep, feminist perspective.
Selected Stories
A brother and sister, shattered by the horrors of war, find solace in a tender, incestuous 'marriage'. A wife, bored and rancorous, stitches a widow's quilt. An old level-crossing keeper watches over his speechless, disfigured niece. In this magnificent selection of her stories, ranging from 1932 to 1977, Sylvia Townsend Warner casts a compassionate but piercing eye on the oddities of love. There's the joyously farcical story of the mouse and the four-poster bed, the strange fugue of a sad woman and her doppelganger cat, the composer unexpectedly spending an afternoon 'living for others'. And finally, there's the skein of stories reporting on the events of Elfland, precise, witty and strange. Readers who know this author's work will be delighted, while newcomers will find the perfect introduction to a writer of incomparable style and substance.
The Corner That Held Them
'One of the great British novels of the twentieth century: a narrative of extraordinary reach, power and beauty' SARAH WATERS In memory of the wife who had once dishonoured and always despised him, Brian de Retteville founded Oby - a twelfth-century convent in a hidden corner of Norfolk. Two centuries later the Benedictine community is well established there and, as befits a convent whose origin had such chequered motives, the inhabitants are prey to the ambitions, squabbles, jealousies and pleasures of less spiritual environments. An outbreak of the Black Death, the collapse of the convent spire, the Bishop's visitation and a nun's disappearance are interwoven with the everyday life of the nuns, novices, successive Prioresses and the nun's priest, in this affectionate and ironic observation of the more wordly history of a religious order.
Sylvia Townsend Warner
Winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 'One of the most shamefully under-read great British authors of the past 100 years' Sarah Waters The poet Sylvia Townsend Warner rose to sudden fame with the publication of her classic feminist novel Lolly Willowes in 1926, but never became a conventional member of London literary life, pursuing instead a long writing career in her own individualistic manner. Cheerfully defying social norms of the day, Warner lived in an openly homosexual relationship with the poet Valentine Ackland for almost forty years. Together, they were committed members of the Communist party and travelled twice to Spain during the Civil War, but Warner paid for her outspokennes...
Summer Will Show
In revolutionary Paris, a disaffected Victorian wife becomes enraptured by her husband’s mistress—a “brilliantly entertaining” historical fiction novel that was “far ahead of its time” (Guardian). “One of the great under-read British novelists of the 20th century . . . my favorite of her novels.” —Sarah Waters, author of Fingersmith Sophia Willoughby, a young Englishwoman from an aristocratic family and a person of strong opinions and even stronger will, has packed her cheating husband off to Paris. He can have his tawdry mistress. She intends to devote herself to the serious business of raising her two children in proper Tory fashion. Then tragedy strikes: the children die...
Letters Of Sylvia Townsend Warner
Very early in her career Sylvia Townsend Warner won recognition of a discerning group of writers and readers on both sides of rare imagination and originality increased with each new publication. In addition to publishing some twenty books she wrote thousands of letters, mainly to close friends and acquaintances, and these quite naturally provide a record of almost fifty years of the writer’s life. As the editor of the selection says, she had a connoisseur’s eye for the bogus and a hatred for assumptions of privilege – her heart was with the hunted, always, and her deep understanding of human behaviour makes the whole a remarkably compassionate volume. Her interests are wide-ranging, and we read of the pleasures of travel, Proust’s shortcomings as a literary critic, current politics, Rupert Brooke at the Café Royal, an eccentric moorhen, the Spanish Civil War. Above all, apart from their intrinsic interest and literary quality, Miss Warner’s letters reveal the special brand of wit and humour that pervades every word she writes.
Kingdoms of Elfin
Sylvia Townsend Warner's final collection of short stories contains sixteen sly and enchanting stories of Elfindom.
Mr. Fortune's Maggot
A second meaning to the word 'maggot' is 'a whimsical or perverse fantasy' and it is a maggot of this variety that takes the Reverand Timothy Fortune, ex-clerk of the Hornsey Branch of Lloyds Bank, to the remote South Sea island of Fanua as a missionary. This 'pious escapade' brings him the joy of being let loose into the world for the first time.
