Rosamond Lehmann: A Life

(Paperback)

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Description

The life of Rosamond Lehmann was as romantic and harrowing as that of any of her fictional heroines. Her first novel, the shocking Dusty Answer, became wildly successful launching her career as a novelist and, just as her novels depicted the tempestuous lives of her heroines, Rosamond's personal life would be full of heartbreaking affairs and lost loves. Escaping from a disastrous early marriage Rosamond moved right into the heart of Bloomsbury society with Wogan Philips. Later on she would embark on the most important love affair of her life, with the poet Cecil Day Lewis; nine years later he abandoned her for a young actress - a betrayal from which she would never recover. Selina Hastings masterfully creates a portrait of a woman whose dramatic life, work and relationships criss-crossed the cultural, literary and political landscape of England in the middle of the twentieth century.

Reviews

I can think of few biographies that are as unputdownable as a novel, but Selina Hastings has produced one: fluidly written, witty, detached yet utterly gripping-deeply touching: a triumph of the biographer's art * Spectator *
A funny and marvellously readable study of a woman who was incurably addicted to love * Independent on Sunday *
Finely textured, exceptionally perceptive and wonderfully readable-the best possible tribute; an understanding, clear-eyed portrait * Sunday Telegraph *
So intelligently written that you linger over the phrasing, her account blends wit, mischief, gossip, acuity and admiration... Shrewd, relaxed, understanding, stylish and not to be missed * Sunday Times *
Careful and sympathetic - striking a delicate balance between factual detail and evocative description * Scotsman *

Author Bio

Selina Hastings is a writer and literary journalist. She worked for fourteen years on the Daily Telegraph and subsequently as literary editor of Harper's & Queen. She has also written the prize-winning Evelyn Waugh: A Biography and Nancy Mitford.