Dweller in Shadows: A Life of Ivor Gurney

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The first comprehensive biography of an extraordinary English poet and composer whose life was haunted by fighting in the First World War and, later, confinement in a mental asylum Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) wrote some of the most anthologized poems of the First World War and composed some of the greatest works in the English song repertoire, such

Reviews

"Shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards"
"The most comprehensive [biography] to date. . . . Dweller in Shadows has many virtues. . . . The deepest impress of [the] book, however, is that it grows into the portrait of a hero."---Anthony Lane, New Yorker
"Kate Kennedy finally does justice to the neglected poet, whose musicians ear for the sounds of the war captures the reality of trench life like no other . . . . Enthralling, meticulously researched and deeply sympathetic."---Andrew Motion, The Spectator
"[A] poignant biography of Gurney. . . . [Kennedy] captures not only her subjects melancholy and angst but also his unique artistic accomplishments. For this Ms. Kennedy is particularly well-suited. . . . Her longtime interest in the intersection of words and music is evident in her sensitive analysis of Gurneys songs and her careful, probing readings of his verse."---David Yezzi, Wall Street Journal
"This substantial and, for the most part, unusually readable biography gives us a rich picture of the world and terrible existence of an astonishing, multitalented artist whose true time is long overdue."---Lachlan Mackinnon, Times Literary Supplement
"Compelling and extraordinary."---Sean Rafferty, BBC Radio 3 In Tune
"[A] fine, well-researched and intelligent biography. . . . This painstaking biography will do much to enhance [Gurney's] reputation."---Simon Heffer, Literary Review
"[An] admirably detailed and perceptive biography. . . . [Kennedy] examines in some detail the extraordinary depth and talent of Gurneys creative geniusshe is particularly illuminating in talking about his poetrywhile being candid about his erratic behaviour and impractical approach to adult life."---Daniel Jaff, BBC Music Magazine
"A particularly rich and detailed account. . . . This will certainly prove to be a valuable reference tool."---Jeremy Dibble, Gramophone
"This is an impeccably and thoroughly researched biography, carefully analytical and elegantly presented. Kate Kennedy has left no stone unturned in her endeavours. It certainly makes for rewarding reading. Although Gurney has long dwelt on the shadowy periphery of musical life, this outstanding biography does much to redress the balance. It has to be one of the most heart-rending books Ive ever read."---Stephen Greenbank, MusicWeb International
"Written with enormous empathy, Kennedys account is heart-wrenching in places. A compelling work"---Elizabeth Fitzherbert, The Lady
"Gurney deserved much better treatment. He deserved a much better society. His work began to give expression to his incipient sense of the need for social change. Its to be hoped this thorough, sympathetic book will bring him the attention he was denied while he lived, and perhaps also prevent todays or tomorrows Gurney suffering a similar fate."---Alan Dent, Penniless Press
"This is a wonderful book that is an affectionate tribute to a truly great man."---Candia McKormack, Cotswold Life
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The book deftly sheds light on how Gurney produced his much respected work.

" * Library Journal *
"Kate Kennedys comprehensive biography of the early-20th-century British poet and composer Ivor Gurney, Dweller in Shadows, is an enormous feat of meticulously detailed scholarship. No stone has been left unturned and no aspect of his life has been left untouched (or at least not speculated upon) by Kennedy.. . . . In Dweller in Shadows Kennedy has created a fully realized portrayal of a complex historical figures life and reclaimed it for the good of historians and laypeople alike."---Walter Holland, Rain Taxi Review of Books
"A stunning contribution to the fields of psychiatric historiography, musicology, literary studies, psychoanalytical scholarship, and many more disciplines, I learned a great deal from this beautifully constructed text, and I hope that Dr. Kennedy will continue to produce other such gripping biographies in years to come."---Brett Kahr, Confer
"Authoritative and exhaustively researched"---Roger Ebbatson, Journal of the Friends of the Dymock Poets

Author Bio

Kate Kennedy, a writer and broadcaster, is Co-Director of the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing, a Supernumerary Fellow in Music and English at Wolfson College, Oxford, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She has published widely on early twentieth-century music and literature, and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3.