Anna Thomasson (1)

I really enjoy connections between books and biographies are great for that. I just finished Stephen Tennant's biography with all its name dropping and then read an autobiography of Edith Olivier and wanting to read more about this woman did a search and came up with this biography of Edith Olivier and her relationship with Rex Whistler and Stephen Tennant and Siegfried Sassoon and Cecil Beaton and Diana Cooper and Duff etc. etc. etc. I read all these biographies and am absolutely delighted to find a new one that brings them all back into focus. A remarkable lady and a remarkable friendship well written and vivid. Brought that entire era to life.… (mer)

"A non-fictional Brideshead Revisited", October 20, 2015

This review is from: A Curious Friendship: The Story of a Bluestocking and a Bright Young Thing (Kindle Edition)
Having read and enjoyed three of Edith Olivier's works, I pounced upon this biography in the library. The author introduces us to Edith's early life, as dutiful daughter of a stern Victorian clergyman, and after his demise as devoted sister.
But it was after her sister's death, when Edith was fifty-one, that her life completely changed. 'Taken up' by well-to-do friends, Edith soon became centre of quite a salon of young notables. Cecil Beaton, Stephen Tennant, Siegfried Sassoon....and Rex Whistler.
Aided in large part by Edith's diaries, the author charts the long relationship between the pair.:

"At times (Edith) even sounds like Agatha in 'The Love Child'. Her ever-increasing protectiveness and adoration were at once romantic and maternal."

I felt Anna Thomasson did an excellent job of exploring the complexities of their friendship, and the outside influences that would sometimes take Rex away for a while. Throughout it all was the sanctuary of Edith's Wiltshire home, Daye House, but in the background the clouds of World War 2 were brewing...
Fascinating read for all those interested in the lead characters - or indeed their 'set'.… (mer)