The Life and Loves of E. Nesbit: Author of The Railway Children

(Hardback)

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Edith Nesbit is considered the first modern writer for children and the inventor of the children 's adventure story publishing over 40 books, influencing writers including C.S. Lewis, P. L. Travers, J.K. Rowling and Jacqueline Wilson.
Playful, contradictory and creative, Nesbit hosted legendary parties and was described by George Bernard Shaw one of her several lovers as audaciously unconventional '. She was a founding member of the Fabian Society, and through Nesbit 's letters and deep archival research Fitzsimons reveals her to have been a prolific lecturer and writer on socialism. Nesbit railed against inequity, social injustice and state-sponsored oppression and incorporated her avant-garde ideas into her writing, influencing a generation of children an aspect of her literary legacy examined here for the first time. Fitzsimons ' eye-opening biography brings new light to the life and works of this famed literary icon, in whom pragmatism and idealism, tradition and modernity worked side-by-side to create a remarkable writer and woman.

Reviews

'A terrific book' Neil Gaiman

'A very well-researched biography' Kate Atkinson

'Excellent' Irish Times

'Readable and thorough' Guardian

'Eleanor Fitzsimons' painstaking research gives us a new insight into the bizarre Bohemian life of the groundbreaking children's author E. Nesbit. It's a fantastic read' Jacqueline Wilson

'Absolutely superb!' Hilary McKay, author of Costa Book award-winning The Skylarks War

'In this long-overdue new biography, Eleanor Fitzsimons gives us a nuanced yet compelling portrait of E. Nesbit's many-facetted personality, life and works, as well as of the politically and culturally vibrant milieu in which she lived' Fiona Sampson, author of In Search of Mary Shelley

'What a stirring and unexpected story Eleanor Fitzsimons tells and what a subject she has found. I can't think of a single writer who doesn't owe something to Edith Nesbit's glorious books for children. The extraordinary woman who wrote them proves to be every bit as brave, funny and imaginative as her own intrepid characters' Miranda Seymour, author of In Byron's Wake

'One of the greatest children's writers, and an acknowledged much loved influence on Joan Aiken E. Nesbit is celebrated in this wonderful new biography by Eleanor Fitzsimons' Lizza Aiken

'An exceptional biography about an absolutely fascinating individual' Adam Roberts, Vice-President of the H.G. Wells Society

'A fascinating, thoughtfully organized, thoroughly researched, often surprising biography' Kirkus Review

'Fitzsimons delivers a sprightly and highly readable life of a writer who deserves even wider recognition' Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

ELEANOR FITZSIMONS is a researcher, writer, journalist and broadcaster specialising in historical and current feminist issues. Her work has been published in a range of newspapers and journals including the Sunday Times, the Guardian and the Irish Times and she is a regular radio and television contributor.