Intimate, perceptive, critically acute, funny and moving, this is
the first full biography of one of the finest English novelists of
the last century.
Penelope Fitzgerald (1916-2000) was a great English writer, who
would never have described herself in such grand terms. Her novels
were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and
subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel "Offshore" in 1979,
and her last work, "The Blue Flower," was acclaimed as a work of
genius. The early novels drew on her own experiences -- a boat on
the Thames in the 1960s; the BBC in war time; a failing bookshop in
Suffolk; an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to
encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess
entirely: Russia before the Revolution; post-war Italy; Germany in
the time of the Romantic writer Novalis.
Fitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It
spans most of the twentieth century, and moves from a Bishop's
Palace to a sinking barge, from a demanding intellectual family to
hardship and poverty, from a life of teaching and obscurity to a
blaze of renown. She was first published at sixty and became famous
at eighty. This is a story of lateness, patience and persistence: a
private form of heroism.
Loved and admired, and increasingly recognised as one of the
outstanding novelists of her time, she remains, also, mysterious
and intriguing. She liked to mislead people with a good imitation
of an absent-minded old lady, but under that scatty front were a
steel-sharp brain and an imagination of wonderful reach. This
brilliant account -- by a biographer whom Fitzgerald herself
admired -- pursues her life, her writing, and her secret self, with
fascinated interest.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
