Edith Olivier

A contemporary of Cecil Beaton, Siegfried Sassoon and Rex Whistler, Edith Olivier is best known for her first book, the novella, The Love Child but was the author of a variety of both fiction and non-fiction, as well as becoming the mayor of Wilton, Wiltshire, in 1939. In Dwarf's Blood, Olivier has crafted a moral tale, reflecting the Victorian values of her upbringing while also incorporating a psychological study of her main character, Sir Nicholas Roxerby, who comes to England from Australia after inheriting the estate of Brokeyates from his great-uncle. Happy in his ancestral home, with the backing of his mother's millions behind him, Nicholas marries into the local gentry and lives a satisfying life until the birth of his second child. Hans is full of persuasive charm and gifted genius, but to Nicholas's horror carries the 'dwarf's blood' of the title, and he cannot find it within himself to accept a child that brings with him the reminder of a family skeleton he would rather forget. In Nicholas's eyes, Hans suffers in comparison to his elder sister Portia, who is tall, healthy and beautiful, despite being completely insensitive, overbearing and unloveable; and for Althea, his wife, the cold-hearted rejection of her son by his father ruptures her happiness. Though a vivid work of realism, Dwarf's Blood incorporates a touch of the eeriness found within Olivier's first work, The Love Child, and was described as a masterpiece among contemporary novels upon first publication in 1931.

Dwarf's Blood

Charlotte Anne Elizabeth Moberly

Eleanor Frances Jourdain

By C. Anne E. Moberly and Eleanor F. Jourdain , with a Preface by Edith Olivier and a Note by J. W. Dunne

An Adventure

William Rose Benét

Elinor Hoyt Wylie

Jane D. Wise

Last Poems of Elinor Wylie. Poems Transcr. by Jane D. Wise with Other Poems Hitherto Unpubl. in Book Form. Foreword by W.R. Benét with a Tribute to E.W. by E. Olivier

Being the Pacific Experiences of Miss Emma Nightingale in Time of War

Night Thoughts of a Country Landlady

As a lonely grown woman, Agatha Bodenham summons back to life the dream companion of her childhood. A portrayal of unfulfilled motherhood.

The Love Child

'This "landscape of the uplands" has been described as "an ocean of rolling grass"; and, with its distinct and yet unaccented separateness, it looks like the green eye of England.' Originally compiled by the near-blind Olivier in 1945-1946 and posthumously published three years after her death in 1951 by her niece Rosemary, Wiltshire is acknowledged as a credible early travel guide in which the county is truly brought to life. In Wiltshire, Edith Olivier paints a vivid portrait of her beloved homeland, describing in minute detail its history, character, towns and villages, people, landscape, customs and traditions. Dating back to the time of the Saxon invasions through to the birth of a modern, pre-war Wiltshire, and covering such vast subjects as its royal entertainments, sports and leisure pursuits, dialect, architecture and the collections contained within its great country houses, Olivier clearly depicts the personality and landscape of Wiltshire. Drawing on extensive research and containing entertaining anecdotes about famous historical figures travelling through the county, including Henry VIII and Shakespeare, as well as tales of highway robberies and early theories behind the origins of Stonehenge, Olivier has crafted a warm and informative account of a bygone era. Edith became mayor of Wilton in 1939 and her love of the place is clearly depicted in this great work.

Wiltshire

"When the War drove her to fill the house with strange guests, it also drove her to fill her diary with strange thoughts... This broadened hospitality, and these unaccustomed contacts, completely changed for the time the character of English country life." In Night Thoughts of a Country Landlady, Edith Olivier explores the diaries left to her by her friend and neighbour, Miss Emma Nightingale. The account explores the arrival of both evacuees and soldiers to Miss Nightingale's village after the outbreak of World War II. Her musings on acting as a boarding house during this time are vivid and appealing chronicles of both rural life in World War II, and the varied and engaging individuals who were involved in this great struggle. This fascinating work is a record of the war as told through the people left behind in England to live their lives against its all-encompassing backdrop, and who did so with quiet contemplation and an overwhelming sense of hospitality.

Penelope Middelboe

From Her Journals, 1924-48

'What was she? Not a child, for she was seventeen, and taller than Kitty: not a girl, for she floated like a feather, and flew into trees like a bird; not a spirit - she was human to touch. But to-night she was all made of mischief and magic, remote form him, and yet calling him to here . . .' At thirty-two, her mother dead, Agatha Bodenham finds herself quite alone. She summons back to life the only friend she ever knew, Clarissa, the dream companion of her childhood. At first Clarissa comes by night, and then by day, gathering substance in the warmth of Agatha's obsessive love until it seems that others too can see her. See, but not touch, for Agatha has made her love child for herself alone. No man may approach her elfin creation of perfect beauty. If he does, the love which summoned her can spirit her away . . . The Love Child (1927) was Edith Olivier's first novel, acknowledged as a minor masterpiece: a perfectly imagined fable and a moving and perceptive portrayal of unfulfilled maternal love.

Edith Olivier

Books

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