Synopses & Reviews
Anna Wickham's life is characterized by the turbulent, burgeoning feminism of the early 20th century. A woman whose incisive mind and inquisitive nature sent her husband into jealous rages, she was forcibly committed to a mental hospital at the age of 30. Upon her release, she began a life-long quest for happiness, exhibited first and foremost through her poetry. Anna Wickham became a widely acclaimed writer whose life, at times immersed in scandal, is a story of success and sadness. Eventually leaving her husband and four sons to live in Paris's left bank, she became a confidante of D.H. Lawrence, the long-time lover of millionairess Natalie Clifford Barney, and a strong-willed literary icon, rumored to have once thrown Dylan Thomas into a snowstorm. Despite her fame and achievement, Wickham's struggles with depression and anxiety would eventually lead to her untimely death.
Synopsis
Based on new documents and family correspondence, and including twenty complete poems, this marvelous biography chronicles the life of British poet Anna Wickham (1883-1947). Following her forced institutionalization by her husband, she emerged as a poet and celebrated member of the famed Modernist literary circle headed by lesbian millionaire Natalie Clifford Barney, with whom she had an affair and an enduring unrequited love. Anna Wickham killed herself in 1947, ending a turbulent, trailblazing life.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 293-346) and index.
Synopsis
Poet Anna Wickham, a neglected figure in early 20th-century literature, is the subject of this biography. The book details her flight from her husband and sons to live with Natalie Clifford Barney in Paris, and her friendships with members of a literary circle that included D. H. Lawrence and Lawrence Durrell.