Laurence Housman

In 2018, Prime Minister Theresa May unveiled a statue of the Suffragist leader, Dame Millicent Fawcett, in Parliament Square, London. Sculpted by Gillian Wearing, it honours the centenary of (some) women winning the right to vote. It is the first statue of a woman to stand in Parliament Square and honours not just Fawcett but 63 other people who supported women’s suffrage, too. The names are inscribed on the plinth next to a small engraving of each person, including four men. One of the men is Laurence Housman, an English playwright, writer, illustrator, and founding member of the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage and the Suffrage Atelier.

Laurence Housman was born on 18th July 1865 in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, to Edward and Sarah Jane Housman. He was one of seven children, including Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936), who became a classical scholar and poet, and Clemence Housman (1861-1955), an author and illustrator. Housman’s father worked as a solicitor and tax accountant, but his mother passed away in 1871. Edward Housman remarried a cousin, Lucy.

Housman had a close relationship with his siblings, particularly Alfred and Clemence, with whom he enjoyed creative pastimes, such as putting on theatrical performances and creating a family magazine. Meanwhile, Housman’s father turned to drink as his business floundered, leaving the family in financial distress. Fortunately, the Housman brothers received scholarships to study at Bromsgrove School, a local boarding school that allowed day students.

In 1882, Housman attended an art class with his sister, Clemence. The following year, they each inherited £200 from a relative, which they spent on art courses at the Lambeth School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London. Housman’s interest in illustration led to positions at London publishing houses, where he produced the artwork for several books, including Christina Rossetti‘s Goblin Market (1893) and his sister’s novella, The Were-Wolf (1896). The latter was an erotic fantasy featuring a female werewolf.

Housman also dabbled in writing and published several poems, hymns and carols during the 1890s. By the turn of the century, Housman’s eyesight began to fail, so he concentrated entirely on writing. He had already published several fairytales, such as A Farm in Fairyland (1894), but his first major literary success was the novel An Englishwoman’s Love-letters (1900), which he published anonymously. The book initially caused a scandal until the public discovered it was written by a man rather than an Englishwoman.

Many of Housman’s works contained Christian undertones. Aside from novels, Housman penned plays such as Bethlehem (1902), Angels and Ministers (1921), and Little Plays of St. Francis (1922). Once again, Housman caused a scandal for depicting biblical characters on stage, and many plays were only performed privately. Another play, Victoria Regina (1934), caused problems because the Lord Chamberlain, Rowland Baring, 2nd Earl of Cromer (1877-1953), ruled that “no British sovereign may be portrayed on the stage until 100 years after his or her accession.” As a result, Victoria Regina could not be performed until the centenary of Queen Victoria’s accession on 20th June 1937, when it opened at the Lyric Theatre, London.

During his career, Housman published around 100 pieces of work, including an autobiography, The Unexpected Years (1937), in which he discussed his controversial writing. He did not mention much of his personal life in the book due to his homosexuality, which was illegal at the time. Despite this, Housman was quite vocal about his sexuality and invested time in helping homosexuals who were stigmatized by society. Housman joined the Order of Chaeronea, an underground organisation for homosexuals. Housman also founded the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology, which later became the British Sexological Society.

Housman identified as a feminist and devoted himself to the women’s suffrage movement, for which he is remembered on the plinth of the Millicent Fawcett statue. In 1909, Housman and his sister Clemence founded the Suffrage Atelier with the artist and author Alfred Pearse (1855-1933), known under the pseudonym “A Patriot”. The Atelier accepted artists and illustrators, primarily women, who wished to use their skills to assist the campaign for women’s suffrage.

The Suffrage Atelier was not the only group producing artwork for the suffrage movement, yet it was the only one to pay its workers. Working as a studio rather than a party or union, the Atelier produced illustrations and designs, which they sold to groups of suffragists or suffragettes. The Suffrage Atelier primarily worked with the Women’s Freedom League, an offshoot of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU).

One of the posters designed by the Suffrage Atelier emphasised how unfair it was to deny women the right to vote. At the time, women could run for mayor, work as nurses, doctors, teachers and factory hands, or be stay-at-home mothers, yet not vote in parliamentary elections. Conversely, men who had been convicts, “lunatics”, proprietors of white slaves, unfit for military service, or drunkards still retained their voting rights. This poster and many of the Atelier’s publications could be quickly reproduced and circulated using block printing, such as woodcuts and linocuts. Despite limited colours, the pamphlets, posters and banners helped spread the women’s cause across the country.

Housman allowed the Suffrage Atelier to use his house at No. 1 Pembroke Cottage Kensington in London as their base. The building also became a central hub for the suffrage movement, offering women writing lessons and hosting talks by motivational speakers. In 1911, Housman opened his doors as a safe house for women participating in the Census Boycott. Led by Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928), women declined to partake in the census by either refusing to fill in the census forms or staying out of the house on the designated night. Participants of the boycott used the slogan, “If women don’t count, neither shall they be counted,” to put pressure on the anti-suffrage Liberal Government.

In 1911, Housman compiled a book called An Anti-Suffrage Alphabet, using illustrations by several members of the Suffrage Atelier. Housman aimed to raise money for the suffrage movement through sales of the book, which mocked negative views of women with a short rhyme for each letter of the alphabet.

“R are the reasons why women can’t vote – Lord Carzon has plenty from which you can quote. “Irrefutable reasons,” but while you are quoting don’t mention the countries where women are voting.”

“W’s the washing which woman must do day in and day out, on polling day too. If she wants a day off you had better say “Bosh” and tell her such fanciful notions won’t wash.”

Housman also designed the “From Prison to Citizenship” banner, which the WSPU carried during a procession on 17th June 1911, a few days before the coronation of George V (1865-1936). Known as the Women’s Coronation Procession, the WSPU demanded women’s suffrage in the coronation year. The procession was “the largest women’s suffrage march ever held in Britain and one of the few to draw together the full range of suffrage organisations”. Around 40,000 people joined the march from Westminster to South Kensington, with Charlotte Despard (1844-1939) and Flora Drummond (1878-1949) leading on horseback. Housman’s banner was carried by the suffragettes who had spent time in prison for their militant actions.

Aside from the artwork Housman created, he began dedicating his writing to the suffrage movement. He also edited other people’s work to give it a feminist twist. Housman wrote several newspaper articles that urged women to join the campaigns and penned a series of poems for Votes for Women, the official newspaper of the WSPU. Housman set several of his fictional works in a future where the women’s campaigns, particularly the Census Boycott, were successful.

To persuade other men to support women’s suffrage, Housman formed the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage with several other writers and journalists, including Gerald Gould (1885-1935), H. N. Brailsford (1873-1958) and Israel Zangwill (1864-1926). The league produced a monthly paper through which they persuaded a handful of men to write “Votes for Women” on their ballot papers at the 1910 general election.

Housman frequently spoke at rallies and participated in protests, which resulted in his arrest on more than one occasion. At one rally, Housman read Rudyard Kipling’s (1965-1936) poem Tommy (1890), replacing every instance of “Tommy” with “Women”. ‘O it’s Women this, an’ Women that, an’ “Women, go away.”‘

Following the First World War, after women over 30 gained the right to vote, Housman and his sister left the capital and settled in Ashley, Hampshire. With less focus on women’s suffrage, Housman concentrated on writing novels, short stories and plays, as well as overseeing the recently established British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology. In 1921, Housman became the Vice-President of the Ethical Union (now Humanists UK), of which many members had belonged to women’s suffrage groups, including the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage. The organisation aims to represent “people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs”. Housman, who had previously written about Biblical characters and hid Christian themes in his novels, may have seemed like a peculiar candidate for the Vice-President, yet his main focus was improving schools and education, which in some instances had been restricted by the Church.

In 1924, Housman and Clemence moved to Street, Somerset, which remained Housman’s home for the rest of his life. He continued to support the Ethical Union, remaining Vice-President until 1957. On 25th September 1929, Housman delivered a lecture at Conway Hall on The Religious Advance Towards Rationalism. He explained, “while society advances toward rationalism, it should also advance toward religion, but to a religion different from past forms. This religion will derive from human experience … Experience has actually led us, along the path of science, to perceive the limits of scientific understanding: to see that science cannot explain the origin of existence. Science leads, then, to a primordial sense of mystery, which can be called a religious sense. Also, the gospel story, whether historically true or not, advocates love, and love is permanently relevant to mankind.”

In 1945, Housman opened a bookshop in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. Although the shop shares his name, it was founded by the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) in his honour. The PPU promoted pacifism and was closely connected with the Ethical Union. Housman desired the shop to promote “ideas of peace, … human rights and a more equitable economy by which future wars, and all their inherent suffering, might be avoided.” The shop moved to Kings Cross, London, in 1959, where it remains one of the longest-running radical bookshops in the country. Over time, it has started stocking new and used books on feminism, anarchism, anti-racism, anti-fascism, LGBTQIA+ politics, socialism, and nonviolence. It remains a non-profit bookshop and is managed by a trust.

Housman and his sister continued living with each other in Somerset until Clemence’s health began to fail. Housman and his neighbours initially cared for Clemence at home until they had no choice but to send her to a nursing home in Glastonbury. Clemence passed away on 6th December 1955, aged 94. Housman continued to live in their house in Street without his lifetime companion, eventually passing away at age 93 on 20th February 1959.

Following Housman’s death, The Times posted an obituary describing him as an “idealist and iconoclast… a figure of versatile and idiosyncratic distinction.” Whilst Housman did not entirely reject Christianity, the newspaper portrayed him as agnostic. In Housman’s autobiography, he wrote, “One hears a good deal of talk nowadays about the decay of religion; and the Victorian age is spoken of as though it had been an age of faith. My own impression of it is that it combined much foolish superstition with a smug adaptation of Christianity to social convention and worldly ends.” Housman still believed in something, but not the form of Christianity imposed during the Victorian era and used against women’s suffrage campaigners and homosexuals.

Despite Housman’s decades-long campaign for reform, his fame diminished over time, although he has remained an inspiration for humanist organisations. The Millicent Fawcett statue has unearthed Housman’s name, but it is unlikely he will ever receive the same recognition as the suffragists, suffragettes and other campaigners.

Housman wrote at least ten novels, 25 short stories, 55 plays, and several poems and works of non-fiction, the majority of which are now out of print. Housman’s play, Victoria Regina, was adapted for American television in 1961, starring Julie Harris (1925-2013) as Queen Victoria and James Donald (1917-93) as Prince Albert. Unfortunately, there have been no revivals and adaptations of his works since.

“I have had pleasures and disappointments; but though the disappointments are perhaps more numerous and present to my recollection than the pleasures, I continue to find life worth having.“
– Laurence Housman, The Unexpected Years (1937)

---

My blogs are now available to listen to as podcasts on the following platforms: Anchor, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts and Spotify.

If you would like to support my blog, become a Patreon from £5p/m or “buy me a coffee” for £3. Thank You!

Advertisement

William Blathwayt of Dyrham

Situated in an ancient deer park near the village of Dyrham in South Gloucestershire, England, is a baroque English country house, once belonging to William Blathwayt (1649-1717). Since its takeover by the National Trust in 1961, the grounds, and more recently, the house, has been open to the public.

William Blathwayt, born in London in 1649, was the grandson of Justinian Povey (d. 1652), a former accountant-general to Queen Anne of Denmark (1574-1619). Blathwayt’s father, a barrister, passed away when Blathwayt was young, and his mother remarried. Fortunately, Blathwayt’s parents, and presumably step-father, came from wealthy backgrounds, allowing Blathwayt to train as a barrister, like his father. In 1665, he was admitted at Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court.

Blathwayt’s uncle, Thomas Povey (1613-1705), found him a diplomatic position in 1668 as Clerk of the English embassy at The Hague, the Netherlands. Blathwayt held the same appointment at the Embassy in Copenhagen and Stockholm in 1672 before touring several European countries. When Blathwayt returned to London, he became a Clerk of the Privy Council in Extraordinary and, in 1679, was promoted to secretary of trade and plantations.

During the 1680s, Blathwayt served as Secretary at War, effectively launching the War Office, and was responsible for establishing the charter of the Crown colony of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, which later became the state of Massachusetts. Blathwayt was “very dexterous in business”, as John Evelyn (1620-1706) recorded in his diary, and promoted trade in America. During his career, he also served as the whig politician for Newtown on the Isle of Wight (1685) and Bath (1693-1710).

On 23rd December 1686, Blathwayt married Mary Wynter, daughter of John Wynter of Dyrham Park. When John Wynter died in 1688, Blathwayt gained possession of Dyrham Park, where he built a large mansion house. Using much of his wealth, Blathwayt furnished the building with paintings by Dutch Old Masters and lavish fabrics.

Blathwayt used an existing Tudor building as the basis for his mansion. He commissioned Samuel Hauduroy, a Huguenot architect, to modernise the west front during the 1690s, including an Italianate staircase leading from the terrace to the grounds. In 1698, Blathwayt added a stable block with enough room for 28 horses. The upper floor of the stable contained extra sleeping quarters for servants. Finally, in 1704, William Talman (1650-1719), the architect of Chatsworth House, removed the remains of the Tudor building by reconstructing the east front and adding a statue of an eagle – the family crest – on the roof.

The Blathwayt family continued to own Dyrham until 1956, during which time the majority of the interior decor remained largely the same, except for the addition of furniture by eighteenth-century designers. During the Second World War, Baroness Anne Islington rented the house as a home for evacuees. She redecorated several rooms, which the National Trust have worked hard to return to their original appearance.

Most rooms feature dark wooden panelling decorated with Delft tiles. Through Blathwayt’s royal connection as Secretary at War to William III (1650-1702), Blathwayt had access to a range of Dutch art, including delftware, furniture and paintings. Blathwayt commissioned a purpose-made state bed with crimson and yellow velvet hangings in the Anglo-Dutch style and purchased Dutch vases and such-like. Around the house are hung many bird paintings by Melchior d’Hondecoeter (1636-95) and still-life and landscapes by other Dutch masters, such as Abraham Storck (1644-1708) and David Teniers the Younger (1610-90).

In a doorway at the end of one corridor hangs A View Through a House (1662) by Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten (1627-78). The painting captures a moment in time, as though a door has just opened, and the viewer is seeing the interior for the first time. A dog and cat, mid-movement, glance at the viewer from the first room, while an open doorway reveals a couple more rooms of the fictional scene. In the middle room, two men and a lady sit beside a window, perhaps negotiating a marriage. On the other side of the glass, a ghostly figure peers in, which many interpret as the lady’s lover, about to interrupt the proceedings and declare his love.

When hung correctly, Hoogstraten’s painting creates the illusion of a long corridor within the house. Blathwayt’s uncle, Thomas Povey, either purchased or commissioned it for his home in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, where it attracted the attention of diarist Samuel Pepys (1633-1703). Blathwayt purchased A View Through a House from his uncle in 1693.

In 1701, Blathwayt added an orangery to the southeastern side of the building. This acted as a greenhouse for exotic plants and fruit trees. In 1800, the English landscaper Humphry Repton (1752-1818) added a glass roof to allow more sunlight into the room.

The orangery served more than one purpose; it helped hide the servants’ quarters from the main house. At the time, the servant quarters were not much to look at, but in the 1840s, they were modernised to make room for a kitchen, dairy, bakehouse and several larders. Servants ate separately from the rest of the house in the Servant Hall, where they were frequently joined by tenant farmers. William Talman, who constructed the east side of the house, added a new stable, which is now used as a tearoom for visitors.

The house is situated in 274 acres of gardens and parkland, which was once home to 200 fallow deer. Unfortunately, a tuberculosis outbreak in 2021 forced the National Trust to cull the herd. It is hoped that deer will eventually return to the park when it is safe to do so.

Walls, artificial lakes and cascades of water were added to the grounds during the late 18th century. The gardens behind the house were designed by George London (1640-1714), although some features, such as a Dutch water garden, were replaced in the late 18th century by Charles Harcourt Masters. Whilst Masters was a well-known architect during his day, London is famous for working on gardens at Hampton Court Palace, including the hedge maze, Chelsea Hospital, Longleat, and Chatsworth House.

Within the grounds of Dyrham Park is the Anglican parish church of St Peter. It was built during the 13th century, although it had a complete refurbishment in the 17th century to compliment the style of the mansion house. Although the church is small compared to other religious buildings in nearby cities, it contains a north and south aisle, chancel, south-west porch and a bell tower. The encaustic tiles in the south aisle come from the original church, but the font is Norman (11th-12th century), suggesting it was moved to the building from elsewhere.

Similar to many old buildings, Dyrham Park has been featured in several television programmes and films. Notable period dramas include the 1999 BBC mini-series Wives and Daughters, based on the works of Elizabeth Gaskell; Servants (2003), set in the 1850s, The Crimson Field (2014), which took place during the First World War; Jane Austen’s Sanditon (2019), and Poldark (2015-18), as the home of George Warleggan. Aside from period dramas, Dyrham Park was also the setting for one episode of Doctor Who (2010), in which an 8-year-old boy is terrorised by crude-looking dolls. The house was also the setting of The Remains of the Day (1993), starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.

Due to ongoing restoration works, Dyrham House is currently only open to the public at weekends, but visitors are welcome to explore the grounds, gardens, tearoom, shops and basement. Entry costs between £12 and £16.50 for adults depending on what day they visit. Children cost between £6 and £8.30, although family tickets are available. Please note, ticket prices are due to increase from 1st March. National Trust members can visit for free.

---

My blogs are now available to listen to as podcasts on the following platforms: Anchor, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts and Spotify.

If you would like to support my blog, become a Patreon from £5p/m or “buy me a coffee” for £3. Thank You!

What to Read Next

Thin
Author: Ann K. Morris
Published: 10th March 2022
Goodreads Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Reviewed: January 2023

Thin by Ann K. Morris is a fictional story that tackles the topic of anorexia. Told from the point of view of someone in the grips of the illness, it emphasises the workings of the unwell mind and the impact anorexia has on lives, both the sufferer and those around them. Seventeen-year-old Erin did not realise she had an eating disorder until her concerned GP spoke to Erin’s mother, who insists Erin see a psychiatrist. Knowing this would mean gaining weight, Erin runs away to Chicago.

In Chicago, Erin meets a couple of homeless teenagers who show her there is more to the world than being thin. Lin and Ari jump at the chance to eat a plate of food, not knowing when their next meal will be. While Erin believes she needs to lose weight to fit in with her friends at school, Lin and Ari keep away from most people, not knowing how to get out of their situation. The chance meeting between Erin, Lin and Ari allows the characters to choose a new way of life, but only if Erin agrees to accept help for her eating disorder.

Eating disorders can be self-absorbing, which the author demonstrates in Thin when Erin runs away without worrying about what her parents would think. Only through meeting her new friends does Erin begin to understand that her mum has difficulties too, especially married to a man who cares more about sports than his own family.

It is impossible to write a book about eating disorders without any potentially triggering material. Whilst it is not the author’s intention to write anything harmful, people with a severe eating disorder should not read Thin until they are on their way to recovery.

Thin is written almost like a poem with short sentences split over several lines. With only three to five words per line, it is as though the narrative is trying to make itself as thin as possible, just as Erin is doing in the story.

Ann K. Morris should be commended for writing an accurate novel about anorexia. Although it may be too difficult for some eating disorder sufferers to read, Thin will hopefully help others understand the illness and break the stereotypical beliefs many hold about anorexia and other mental illnesses.

Darkness
Author: Victoria Sadler
Published: 1st September 2016
Goodreads Rating: 3.67 out of 5
Reviewed: November 2016

“Violence always gets results.” But at what cost? Victoria Sadler’s dystopian novel Darkness explores an all too realistic scenario set in a not-so-distant future. The western world has fallen due to war and economic collapse. London has become a ghost city due to the death of thousands of people. Those not killed by bombs or deadly viruses succumb to suicide or death by natural causes – if the cold and starvation can be labelled natural.

Laura Lewis is the sole survivor in her block of flats and now needs to make her way through the dangerous streets to St Paul’s Cathedral, where what remains of the State will provide her with safety. Before she reaches her final destination, she is ambushed by an army of women, a threat to the nation, known as RAZR – Resistance Against State Reformation. Jane, the leader of the resistance, believes she has saved Laura from a fate worse than death. But, as Laura discovers, RAZR may result in an even crueller future.

RAZR was born from a hatred of men, a guerilla feminist movement seizing the opportunity to obliterate the patriarchal society. Since the beginning of time, men have oppressed women, regarding them as possessions with which they can do as they please. Despite the apparent equality achieved through past protests, the government (i.e. men) still controls the lives of women. RAZR focus on women’s rights to their own body and are angry at the State’s current use for women: to procreate.

Darkness is full of radical violence, often ending in the mass death of male soldiers. With barely a break to take a breath, the narrative goes from one action scene to the next, heightening the excitement as the novel reaches its climax. As the reader learns more about RAZR and the State, opinions are constantly changed. Who is good, and who is bad? Who can Laura trust? Then, to confuse things even more, Laura is not who she initially appears to be either.

The amount of violence in this novel is disturbing, particularly as the majority of deaths are caused without a guilty conscience. Darkness highlights the horrors of war and the wild nature of humanity. Without men and women living in harmony, there is no peace; on the other hand, complete equality is impossible. Furthermore, is RAZR feminist or terrorist? It is obvious that the human race cannot survive with merely one gender, so is RAZR doing more harm than good by fatally punishing all men?

Overall, Darkness poses more questions than it answers, yet it is a gripping novel. Women, particularly feminists, will enjoy the powerful messages expressed by RAZR, but equally, readers will understand Laura’s hesitation. With so many plot twists to get your head around, you will never get bored of this story. With such an ambiguous ending, it is unclear whether Darkness will remain a standalone novel or be continued with a sequel. Whatever the case, it will be interesting to read what the feminist, Victoria Sadler, comes up with next.

Kids of Appetite
Author: David Arnold
Published: 20th September 2016
Goodreads Rating: 4 out of 5
Reviewed: September 2016

They lived and they laughed and they saw that it was good.

Mosquitoland was the best book I read in 2015 and I was excited to discover what David Arnold would write next. I approached Kids of Appetite with mild trepidation; what if it did not live up to my expectations? I need not have worried – it was brilliant. Dubbed a “tragicomedy”, Kids of Appetite is a combination of realistic, heartbreaking experiences with intellectual humour.

The book opens mid-interview at a local police station where two teenagers, Vic and Mad, are being questioned about a murder their friend has supposedly committed. From there, the story backtracks a week and proceeds to bring the reader up to date. It all begins with Vic running away from home, distancing himself from his mother and her new partner. By chance, a coincidence – a bump, Vic would say – he is found by Mad, who introduces him to a small group of homeless friends. Vic may not have packed in preparation for life on the streets – or a greenhouse, as it turns out – however, he did grab the urn containing his late father’s ashes before racing out of the house. Along with the urn is a letter containing cryptic clues that lead to various locations where Vic’s father wished for his ashes to be scattered. Vic and his newfound friends make it a mission to put his father to rest.

It is not possible to label the general theme of the book. Kids of Appetite is a story full of stories. Each character has their own past, something that led them to the situation they find themselves in now. The group consists of five members – once Vic has been accepted. Baz, at age twenty-seven, is the leader: responsible, caring, and fatherly – until accused of murder. Seven years younger is Zuz, Baz’s mute brother, and finally, Coco, an eleven-year-old with the mouth of a foul old lady. It is Coco, amongst all her swearing and hilarious misuse of words, that coins the name Kids of Appetite, KOA for short, a play on words: they are not solely in want of food, they hunger for life.

Initially, it would appear that the main focus will be on Vic: his father’s death, his mother’s new partner, Moebius (facial paralysis) – a syndrome that results in a lot of bullying and discrimination – and, of course, his flight from home. Yet the remaining members of KOA equally contribute to the overall narrative. Mad, like Vic, knows what it is like to lose a father. Unfortunately, she also knows what it is like to lose a mother. Her life since the fateful car crash that left her an orphan has been full of abuse and uncertainty. Baz and Zuz, on the other hand, have escaped a traumatizing childhood amid the Congo Civil War.

Similar to Mosquitoland, Arnold’s second book is full of intellectual knowledge and humour, complete with references to highbrow material. Vic is obsessed with operatic songs and deeply interested in abstract art, particularly Matisse. He pulls the artist’s work apart in search of meaning and relatable truths. Like Vic, Mad has a particular song from which she draws comfort. The lyrics help her make sense of the world around her and help her to produce her manifesto – Madifesto. She is particularly fascinated by S E Hinton’s The Outsiders. With in-depth theories purloined from her favourite novel, she encourages and advises those around her.

It is essentially the characters that make Kids of Appetite such a fantastic work of fiction. Their background stories are all based on the real-life experiences of many people throughout the world; but it is their opinion of life, their terminology, and their reckless enthusiasm that impacts the reader. Kids of Appetite is a book to be read over and over again. So many phrases can be quoted to explain our own lives and feelings. The entire novel is one big quote to sum up life itself. Although there are many themes, stories and ideas, there is one clear message: Let go. Let go of the past. Let go of the things that hold you back. For Vic and Mad, it is the death of their parents; for Coco, it is abandonment; and for Baz and Zuz, to learn to let go of their violent childhood.

David Arnold is an extremely talented author, seamlessly flowing from one notion to another whilst sweeping the reader into a sea of pure emotion. He may overuse the word “ergo” and have an unconventional penchant for ellipses, but that only adds to the uniqueness of the writing. There may be an excessive amount of expletives but that is overshadowed by the pure genius of the story itself. Kids of Appetite is a book I want to recommend to all. The blurb likens it to authors Rainbow Rowell and Jennifer Niven – I would like to throw John Green into the mix – and should appeal to many Young Adult readers. I could write forever about this book, but I would rather you go and read it yourself. And whilst you read, remember:

They lived and they laughed and they saw that it was good.

Runaway Girl
Author: Casey Watson
Published: 20th October 2016
Goodreads Rating: 4.25 out of 5
Reviewed: November 2016

Casey Watson is a specialist foster carer who temporarily houses vulnerable children in emergency situations. Since working in this field for decades, she has documented her experiences in a series of books, each focusing on a different child. Her thirteenth and most recent book is Runaway Girl, aptly named about a (supposedly) fourteen-year-old girl running away from several distressing situations.

Adrianna arrives on Casey’s doorstep with no possessions, no English and no passport. Apart from knowing she is Polish, Adrianna is a complete mystery to the Watson family and the services involved. With her sixth sense tingling, Casey is certain there is something important that Adrianna is hiding, but despite all her attempts, it is not until an emergency hospitalization that the frightened Polish girl starts telling the truth.

With a background of abuse, homelessness and sex trafficking, Adrianna’s story will open readers’ eyes to the shocking situations in which many foreign children find themselves. Unfortunately, Adrianna is only one out of 5,000 girls in the last decade and a half to be brought to England illegally and forced into prostitution.

Fortunately, Adrianna is lucky to have escaped and found a safe place to stay in the Watson household. Without Casey’s care and determination to provide a future for her, Adrianna would have remained one of the “hidden children” that arrive in England every year.

Casey writes in a novel-like format, describing Adrianna’s circumstances from a carer’s point of view. Slowly revealing the secrets of Adrianna’s past, Casey keeps the reader interested in the same way a fiction author would with a clever plot line. Emphasising Adrianna’s difficulties – coming to terms with the abuse she has faced but also worrying about whether the authorities will allow her to remain in England – Casey appeals to the readers’ emotions, making it clear that, although Adrianna is here illegally, trafficked children have every right to be protected and looked after by British authorities.

Although Casey writes under a pseudonym and alters all names within the book, it is unclear how much of the storyline is true or whether the situation has been accentuated to capture the reader’s attention. Yet, this is not important – people will read this for entertainment, so the accuracy of the content is not as significant as how it is told. Runaway Girl, whilst shocking, is engaging and easy to read, with a satisfying ending.

The Last Dragon Slayer
Author: Jasper Fforde
Published: 1st December 2010
Goodreads Rating: 3.87 out of 5
Reviewed: January 2017

The recent (2016) dramatisation on Sky1 has prompted the release of a new edition of Jasper Fforde’s The Last Dragonslayer, which appeared in bookstores six years ago. Fforde is perhaps best known for his Thursday Next series, a comical science-fiction story, but he proves he can equally tackle fantasy with this tale about an intrepid, young dragonslayer.

In the slightly fictional Kingdom of Hereford, part of the Ununited Kingdom, is a home and employment agency for mystical artisans. Over the past decades, magic has begun to diminish, leaving soothsayers and sorcerers struggling to find jobs. Jennifer Strange, although only fifteen, is temporarily in charge of running the agency, Kazam, and looking after the building’s cantankerous inhabitants. Although competent in her position, Jennifer soon finds herself out of her depth when wizards begin having prescient visions of the death of the last living dragon.

Able to ignore the prophecy at first, Jennifer becomes deeply involved once it is revealed that she is the foretold dragonslayer. Being both helped and hindered by friends and obdurate sorcerers, Jennifer desperately tries to prevent the shocking prediction from coming true. Yet, as she quickly discovers, it is impossible to outrun your fate, especially if Big Magic is involved.

The Last Dragonslayer is a fun book to read that, despite the slow build-up to the promised dragon story, is humorous and engaging. Jasper Fforde is a witty writer who uses genuine, intelligent, and often subtle puns rather than demeaning himself by resorting to crude jokes. Although some may dismiss dragons, magic and fantasy as fatuous nonsense, Fforde is writing for the more intellectual reader. Magic is a concept that has been written about thousands of times and also mocked in parodies of well-known literature. The Last Dragonslayer successfully combines fantasy and humour in a way that avoids ridicule.

Some may argue that The Last Dragonslayer is a young adult novel due to the age of the protagonist and the less highfaluting content compared to Fforde’s other works. On the other hand, Jennifer Strange is a character that appears a lot older than she is and is involved in events and satire that a younger audience may not be able to fully appreciate. 

I particularly enjoyed reading Jasper Fforde’s The Last Dragonslayer. I found it engaging and amusing, loved the characters, and was slightly disheartened when the book ended earlier than I expected – that is the downside of having sneak-peek chapters at the rear of the paperback! Of the Jasper Fforde books I have read (The Eyre Affair, 2001 and Shades of Grey, 2009), The Last Dragonslayer has been my favourite. Perhaps the potential younger target audience prevented me from getting lost, unlike the complexity of the other stories. As long as you can forgive the author for his fish fetish and preoccupation with marzipan, you will love this book.

---

My blogs are now available to listen to as podcasts on the following platforms: Anchor, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts and Spotify.

If you would like to support my blog, become a Patreon from £5p/m or “buy me a coffee” for £3. Thank You!

Discover Eva Gonzalès

Until 15th January 2023, the National Gallery is devoting a small exhibition to the Portrait of Eva Gonzalès by Édouard Manet (1832-83). Unlike other works by Manet, this painting took a long time to complete and lacked his usual spontaneity. It took Manet 40 attempts to paint Gonzalès’ face, and x-ray fluorescence (XRF) scanning reveals the artist reworked the background several times. Whilst the in-depth study of the painting has provided a detailed account of Manet’s process, the sitter is of equal interest. Eva Gonzalès was a French Impressionist painter who started receiving tuition from Manet in 1869 at the age of 20. Successful female painters were not abundant at the time, and there was the misconception that women could only paint things like flowers and lacked the ability to tackle more complicated subjects. Eva Gonzalès proved everyone wrong.

Gonzalès was born in Paris on 19th April 1849, where she grew up in sophisticated literary circles. Her father, Emmanuel Gonzalès (1815-87), served as the president of the Société des gens de lettres de France (Society of People of Letters of France), which many notable writers attended, such as Victor Hugo (1802-85), George Sand (1804-76) and Alexandre Dumas (1802-70). Exposed to new ideas about art and literature at a young age, Gonzalès desired to become an artist, so she started receiving lessons from Charles Chaplin (1825-91), a French landscape and portrait painter.

Most French art schools did not admit women until the end of the 19th century, so many studied at home or in private studios. In 1853, Chaplin opened a women-only studio; and in 1868, the Academie Julian opened its doors to both men and women. For the first time, women were allowed to study from the life model (i.e. nude), despite the opinion that it was inappropriate and morally damaging for ladies. Despite this, women could only exhibit paintings deemed “feminine” at public exhibitions. Nor could they attend discussions with fellow (male) artists to learn about modern art subjects without a chaperone, meaning access to some of the art world remained denied to women.

In 1869, Gonzalès met Manet, who was initially hesitant to discuss his work due to receiving poor reviews at exhibitions. Over time, Manet began to come out of his shell and took Gonzalès on as his only formal pupil. Manet started his portrait of Gonzalès in 1869, eventually finishing it for the Paris Salon in 1870. Unfortunately, it overshadowed all the paintings Gonzalès submitted that year. Instead, critics assumed Gonzalès was a young, decorative model rather than an artist. Manet positioned her at an easel, painting a still-life of flowers, befitting the ideals of a female artist. In reality, Gonzalès had never produced a still life at that time, preferring to paint portraits.

Eventually, the Salon began to take Gonzalès’ work seriously. Whilst Manet developed a brighter, more fluid painting style, Gonzalès stuck to neutral colours and attention to detail. Critics often referred to Gonzalès’ “feminine technique”, but this changed after producing Une loge aux Théâtre Italiens (1874), which they described as full of “masculine vigour”. Unfortunately, this led several people to assume Manet had produced the painting. 

Although Gonzalès is categorised as an Impressionist artist, she never exhibited her work at the Impressionist exhibitions. Whether this was a personal choice or the advice of her tutor, Manet, who did not exhibit with the Impressionist either, is uncertain. Rather than making visible brushstrokes and the focusing on the effects of light in her paintings, Gonzalès concentrated on exploring her identity and moving away from the woman Manet portrayed in Portrait of Eva Gonzalès.

In 1879, Gonzalès married Henri Guérard (1846-97), a French graphic artist who worked for Manet as an engraver. Gonzalès frequently used her husband as a model in her paintings, such as The Donkey Ride (1880), which also features Gonzalès’ sister, Jeanne. Whilst this painting is unfinished, it reveals Gonzalès’s technique of hatching in the landscape with long strokes in the style of many Impressionist artists. By contrast, Jeanne’s face and blue dress are smoothly painted and evenly worked, suggesting the outcome would have looked very different when completed.

Jeanne posed more frequently than Gonzalès’s other models. In 1872, Gonzalès produced her first major work, Indolence, featuring her younger sister looking out of an open window. The French novelist and critic Émile Zola (1840-1902) commented on the nostalgic mood, likening Jeanne to “a virgin fallen from a stained-glass window.” The painting style reflects Gonzalès’ first art teacher’s tuition, but elements of Impressionism are evident in the quick brushstrokes used to form the edges of the curtain and the small bunch of blue flowers on the window sill. The ambivalent expression on Jeanne’s face is also something Gonzalès picked up from Manet.

Gonzalès painted Jeanne almost every day in a variety of guises. Shortly after Gonzalès’ marriage, she dressed her sister in her wedding gown and produced a pastel drawing for the 1880 Salon. The dynamic hatching, likely influenced by Manet, was praised by critics despite the previous thinking that the medium was unsuitable for the “delicate touch” of female artists.

Entitled The Bride, the pastel drawing was strangely prophetic. At the end of April 1883, Gonzalès gave birth to a son, Jean Raimond. A day or so after the birth, Gonzalès learnt Manet had passed away on 30th April. On 6th May, Gonzalès followed suit, passing away due to childbirth complications. She was only 34 years old. The pastel drawing of The Bride was discovered amongst Gonzalès’ personal belongings after her death. Her husband kept the painting and later married Gonzalès sister, Jeanne.

Over time, the French government purchased Gonzalès’ paintings for public galleries, although some were sold to private collectors. During her short life, Gonzalès started making a name for herself across France, Belgium and England, where her paintings were featured in the newspaper L’Art. Unfortunately, as a woman, she received less attention than her male contemporaries and her work was gradually forgotten.

Due to the hindrance placed on female artists, Gonzalès’ most common themes were portraits and domestic scenes of women and children. Whilst she produced a few landscapes, she could not wander the streets like male Impressionists, seeking out locations to paint. Some of Gonzalès’ outdoor scenes were likely staged, such as Nanny and Child (1877-78), which she painted in Dieppe, a city on the coast of Normandy that she frequently visited. The nanny takes centre stage, blocking the only exit from the garden so the child cannot escape. The painting received mixed reviews, with some saying the image of the nanny was too flat, almost like a Japanese print. Others praised the artwork for the same reason, particularly Impressionists, who frequently imitated Japanese prints in their work.

Under Manet’s tuition, Gonzalès experimented with many Impressionist techniques as she gradually developed her own style. Awakening Woman depicts her sister, Jeanne, lying in bed in the soft light of the morning. The contours of the model’s nightgown and the bed sheets almost blend into one expanse of white. Gonzalès cropped the image to focus on the upper body of her sister rather than the entire room. Other Impressionists also used this “snapshot” technique to create a sense of capturing a brief moment of someone’s life, as a camera might do.

Gonzalès’ later works show she detached herself from the Realist style of Charles Chaplin. She also began to separate from Manet’s techniques, gradually absorbing the sketchy painting style of other Impressionist artists. Whilst Luncheon on the Grass (1882) remains unfinished, the manner of painting is very different from her unfinished The Donkey Ride from two years previously. Rather than hatching in the background, Gonzalès wielded her paintbrush more like a pastel crayon, filling in areas with blocks or scribbles of colour.

Similar to Awakening Woman, Gonzalès cropped the scene to focus on one attendee of the Luncheon on the Grass. As usual, the model is her sister Jeanne, who holds a red fan, suggesting it is a hot day. With her elbow resting on a wooden chair, it is unknown whether Jeanne is alone, deep in thought, or if others are out of shot. If the latter, the cropping of the picture makes Jeanne appear isolated, as though she feels out of place in the company of others.

Since her death, Gonzalès’ work has been featured at the Salons de La Vie Moderne (1885), the Salon d’Automne (1907), and several galleries in Paris. The Musée National des Beaux-Arts in Monte Carlo also held an exhibition in 1952. Since then, her paintings have been mostly forgotten until now. The National Gallery goes into great depth about Manet’s Portrait of Eva Gonzalès, going as far as to show x-ray images of the painting. Whilst it is the main feature of the exhibition, the portrait allows the gallery to explore some of the works of Eva Gonzalès, including Une loge aux Théâtre Italiens, The Donkey Ride, Indolence and The Bride. The exhibition also features a handful of other female artists who proved women were not restricted to “feminine” themes. Artists include Ellen Sharples (1793-1838), Gwen John (1876-1939), Milly Childers (1866-1922) and Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807).

Discover Manet & Eva Gonzalès is open until 15th January 2023 at the National Gallery in London. Admission is free.

---

My blogs are now available to listen to as podcasts on the following platforms: Anchor, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts and Spotify.

If you would like to support my blog, become a Patreon from £5p/m or “buy me a coffee” for £3. Thank You!