Rosamond Lehmann, Antonia White, and authors’ houses – welcome to episode 94!
In the first half of this episode, we do a topic suggested by Gillian – do we care where authors live? That is, do we want to visit their houses – we talk through authors’ houses we’ve visited and those we’d like to visit.
In the second half, we compare two coming-of-age novels: Frost in May by Antonia White and Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann.
Do get in touch if you have suggestions for topics, or questions for the central section – teaorbooks@gmail.com. You can listen above, through Spotify, through your podcast app of choice, or Apple Podcasts. You can support the podcast, and get mini bonus episodes, from as little as one dollar a month at Patreon.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
The Last of Summer by Kate O’Brien
The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey
The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier
No Place Like Home by Beverley Nichols
Jane Austen
Bronte sisters
The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell
Stephen Leacock
Virginia Woolf
William Wordsworth
This Golden Fleece by Esther Rutter
Robert Burns
Beatrix Potter
Dante
Emily Dickinson
Louisa M. Alcott
The Provincial Lady in America by E.M. Delafield
Rudyard Kipling
Thomas Hardy
Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie
A.A. Milne
E.M. Delafield
Barbara Comyns
Marilynne Robinson
They Knew Mr Knight by Dorothy Whipple
As For Me and My House by Sinclair
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
A Very Great Profession by Nicola Beauman
Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann
Thrown to the Woolfs by John Lehmann
The Sincerest Form by E.M. Delafield
Olivia by Olivia
The Half Crown House by Helen Ashton
The Foolish Gentlewoman by Margery Sharp
Haven’t read Dusty Answer but Frost in May astonished me. How she was able to convey such volumes with just a few brushstrokes – the horrific cruelty of those nuns, and her awful father…not so much a coming of age story as a smothering of a soul story.
I love that description!
Re novels about faith: Faith is almost always in the background of Elizabeth Goudge’s novels. She wrote a lot of historical fiction but some contemporary novels as well. A great contemporary novel is The Scent of Water.
As a child, I loved Christy by Catherine Marshall about a young middle class woman who teaches in the Appalachian Mountains before WWI.
I think faith is definitely in the background of Jane Eyre. Her friend Helen had a very strong faith that kept her from losing her identity no matter the suffering she endured. That same integrity is what helps Jane stay true to herself in the face of Mr. Rochester’s pressure to be his mistress. It’s also what keeps her going on the moors.
A friend, Marilynn Orr, argues that George Eliot, despite being an atheist or agnostic (can’t remember which) had a strong spirituality which you can see especially in Middlemarch.
I gave both of these book a 4 rating on Goodreads. I really enjoyed them both, although there were parts in each that I wasn’t as fond of. If the second half of Dusty Answer was as good as the first half, it would have gotten five stars from me. Frost in May was more consistent, but the writing not as good as DA. I have gone on to purchase the ebooks of the rest of the series of F in M, but haven’t read them yet. It’s funny but I had read Frost in May about 8 years ago (and gave it 4 stars then too), but it didn’t seem very familiar to me as I reread it in the present.
Oh yes, the first half of Dusty Answer was just sublime. I agree with everything you say here.
Wonderful episode! I LOVE visiting author’s homes and getting a peek inside their lives. Haven’t been to the Brontes but I did an Austen pilgrimage a few years ago and went to Chawton, Bath, and Winchester Cathedral. I think I also visited Dickens’ home in London on that visit as well. It’s the only time I specifically traveled to see someone’s house, not just an incidental visit. I think my favorite was the home of Robert Graves, which is in Deia, Mallorca — it’s a pretty little house and the surrounding views are stunning, lots of orange groves nearby and beautiful mountain views. On my bucket list is The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts, the home of Edith Wharton. It’s in the Berkshires and a few hours away from Louisa May Alcott’s home so maybe I could do both in one trip!
Oh that’s lovely – I went to Dickens’ house on a trip too, and mostly remember the tearoom because I was starving. I had no idea Graves lived in Mallorca – lovely.
Dove Cottage was closed when I was there two years ago but I visited Rydal Mount and found it enchanting. The home is cozy and overlooks a perfectly lovely garden. There is a small hut in the garden where Wordsworth would go to to read his poems out loud. I believe it is still owned by the family.
Another wonderful house I saw on that trip but only on the outside was Marghanita Laski’s house in Hampstead.
I so enjoy listening to you talking about books.
Oh I don’t know about Rydal Mount – will have to look that up next time I’m up there. Such a beautiful area.
Ah, now you’ve got me desperate to visit Monk’s House – though I don’t think I would behave in a very restrained and would probably blub my way round the place.
As for Dusty Answer and Frost in May, I’ve read the former twice and the latter only once, a very long time ago. But I can’t say I would have thought of comparing them because of the strong religious element in the White – intriguing!
I am quite surprised you’ve not been there, Karen – it is VERY moving being there, but definitely worth the trip.
Concord (Mass) is a 40 minute train ride from Boston, so all you have to do it travel to Boston! :-)
I’ve also visited Jane Austen’s house and Monk’s House (the latter, three years ago), and Haworth. I do like a home museum.
Ah, one day! I have only been to DC and environs in the US, so the only famous house I’ve been to was Jefferson’s.
Your discussion on author’s homes had me desperate to get out and about. I’ve been to Agatha Christie’s home – wonderful setting and I loved the fact that a mural painted when the house was occupied by naval officers, is still in the drawing room. So atmospheric.
Dove Cottage was magical -I think its been closed for a refurb but is due to re-open very soon.
Great episode! I loved the discussion about author’s homes. I have not been able to visit too many, but I so enjoy hearing people talk about visiting, and have definitely investigated various author’s homes on Google Maps!
Incidentally, I listened to this episode while I was in the kitchen making a cheesecake, and it was very convivial hearing the clink of cutlery as Rachel had her supper on the podcast. :D I know it wasn’t intended, but… slice of life, indeed!
Thanks for discussing my suggestion of authors’ homes! It’s always so interesting and I loved your discussion. I have been lucky enough to visit the Bronte parsonage at Haworth, Jane Austen’s cottage at Chawton, Rydal Mount, Thomas Hardy’s birthplace and Max Gate (my personal favourite), Dicken’s homes in Portsmouth and Doughty Street. Plenty more to visit some day, I hope!
Regarding novels with a theme of faith, I really enjoyed A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, as well as everything by Chaim Potok.
Re: Novels about faith. The Chosen by Chaim Potok explores the challenges to friendship between two boys from very different Jewish backgrounds in New York in the 1940s. (Penguin Modern Classic).