Synopses & Reviews
THE WHITE CLIFFS bv ALICE DUER MILLER With a Preface by SIR WALTER LAYTON -- 1941 -- PREFACE - IN a series of historic declarations the President of the United States during the last few days has given notice to the whole world that America will see to it that Britain wins the war. It is not enough that we should be saved from defeat. Nazism with its threat of world domination must be crushed. This is no personal decision of the President but is one which clearly has the overwhelming support both of the electorate and of the Congress of the United States. Two influences have powerfully helped to bring about this state of mind-profound admiration for the dogged defence put up by Great Britain against long odds and a growing realization that we are fighting Americas battle. But there is a third. It is the sometimes almost subconscious understanding that, in spite of our past misdeeds and the defects which the New World sees in us, English and American civilizations are based on the same fhdamental ideas and outlook. Mrs. Miller, in her brilliant and moving poem, does not attempt to gloss over our social inequalities, our insularity, our conceit, our stodginess . Yet no English reader of this book can fail to be touched by the fineness of her perception as her story moves to its climax, and she answers the question whether it is worth while to make the great sacr ce in order that England may live. The White l s, w hich has created a deep impression in the United States, should be read in this country not done for the pleasure that it will give but because it helps us to see ourselves as a friendly American sees us. 13 January, 1941 W. T. L. 1 HAVE loved England, dearly and deeply, Sincethat first morning, shining and pure, The white clif6 of Dover I saw rising steeply Out of the sea that once made her secure. I had no thought then of husband or lover, 1 was a traveller, the guest of a week Yet when they pointed the white cliffs of Dover, Startled I found there were tears on my cheek. I have loved England, and still as a stranger, Here is my home and I still am alone. Now in her hour of trial and danger, Only the English are really - her own. IT happened the first evening I was there. Some one was giving a ball in Belgrave Square. At Belgrave Square, that most Victorian spot.-Lives there a novel-reader who has not At some time wept for those delightful girls, Daughters of dukes, prime ministers and earls, In bonnets, berthas, bustles, buttoned basques, Hiding behind their pure Victorian masks Hearts just as hot-hotter perhaps than those Whose owners now abandon hats and hose Who has not wept for Lady Joan or Jill Loving against her noble parents will A handsome guardsman, who to her alarm Feels her hand kissed behind a potted palm At Lady IvryYs ball the dreadful night Before his regiment goes off to fight And see him the next morning, in the park, Complete in busbee, marching to embark. I had read freely, even as a child, Not only Meredith and Oscar Wdde umtan y novels of an earlier day-Ravenshoe, Can You Forgive Her, Vivien Grey, Ouida, The Duchess, Broughtons Red As a Rose, Guy Livingstone, Whyte-Melville-Heaven knows What others. Now, I thought, I was to see Their habitat, though like the Miller of Dee, I cared for none and no one cared for me...
Synopsis
Alice Duer Miller's heart-warming novel written entirely in verse. The narrative follows an American girl who falls in love with an Englishman during World War I. This touching and beautiful tale will appeal to lovers of poetry and those with an interest in life during the Great War, and it is not to be missed by discerning collectors of such literature. Many antiquarian books such as this are increasingly hard-to-come-by and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.
Synopsis
This antiquarian book contains 'The White Cliffs', Alice Duer Miller's heart-warming novel written entirely in verse. The narrative follows an American girl who falls in love with an Englishman during World War I. This touching and beautiful tale will appeal to lovers of poetry and those with an interest in life during the Great War, and it is not to be missed by discerning collectors of such literature. Many antiquarian books such as this are increasingly hard-to-come-by and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.