Author | A. S. Byatt |
---|---|
Language | English |
Publisher | Chatto & Windus |
Publication date | 2009 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
Pages | 675 pp |
ISBN | 978-0-7011-8389-9 |
The Children's Book is a 2009 novel by British writer A. S. Byatt. It follows the adventures of several inter-related families, adults and children, from 1895 through World War I. Loosely based upon the life of children's writer E. Nesbit [1] there are secrets slowly revealed that show that the families are much more creatively formed than first guessed. It was shortlisted for the 2009 Booker Prize. [1]
The Wellwood family (Olive, Humphry, Olive's sister Violet, and many children) are Fabians, living in a world of artists, writers, and craftsmen, all moving into new ways to express art, and living an artful life, before the horrors and loss of the Great War. While the central character of Olive is a writer of children's literature, supporting her large family with her writing, the title of the book refers to the children in the book: Tom, Julian, Philip, Elsie, Dorothy, Hedda, Griselda, Florence, Charles/Karl, Phyllis, and others, following each as they approach adulthood and the terrors of war. [2]
In an interview with The Guardian Byatt says:
I started with the idea that writing children's books isn't good for the writers' own children. There are some dreadful stories. Christopher Robin at least lived. Kenneth Grahame's son put himself across a railway line and waited for the train. Then there's J. M. Barrie. One of the boys that Barrie adopted almost certainly drowned himself. This struck me as something that needed investigating. And the second thing was, I was interested in the structure of E. Nesbit's family—how they all seemed to be Fabians and fairy-story writers.
The Children's Book centres on the fictional writer Olive Wellwood and spans from 1895 until the end of the First World War. [3] She is based upon E. Nesbit. [1] Another character, Herbert Methley, Byatt said, is a combination of H. G. Wells and D. H. Lawrence. [1] The book also features Rupert Brooke, Emma Goldman, Auguste Rodin, George Bernard Shaw, Virginia Woolf and Oscar Wilde, all as themselves. [1] Byatt initially intended to title the book as The Hedgehog, the White Goose and the Mad March Hare. [1]
The book has so many fictional and historical characters that Byatt had to create a spreadsheet in Excel to keep track of them all. [4]
The Kent Wellwoods:
The London Wellwoods:
At the Victoria and Albert Museum:
At Cambridge University:
In London:
At Purchase House in Dungeness:
Neighbours in Kent: "Their guests were socialist, anarchists, Quakers, Fabians, artists, editors, freethinkers, and writers who lived, either all time, or at weekends and on holidays in converted cottages and old farmhouses, Arts and Crafts homes and workingmen's terraces, in the villages, woods and meadows around the Kentish Weald and the North and South Downs." [5]
The Germans:
The Tutors:
Upon release, The Children's Book was generally well-received. On The Omnivore , in an aggregation of British critic reviews, the book received an "omniscore" of 4 out of 5. [7] Culture Critic assessed critical response as an aggregated score of 78% based on British press reviews. [8] The book received a 79% from The Lit Review based on 39 critic reviews. [9] In Bookmarks Jan/Feb 2010 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (3.5 out of 5) with the summary stating, "Gorgeously stuffed? Or overstuffed? Critics were clearly split on Byatt's latest offering". [10] Globally, it was generally well received with Complete Review saying on the consensus "Generally positive -- but while many are impressed also note that her attention to details and facts can be overwhelming". [11]
Georgette Heyer was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ailing younger brother into the novel The Black Moth. In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. The couple spent several years living in Tanganyika Territory and Macedonia before returning to England in 1929. After her novel These Old Shades became popular despite its release during the General Strike, Heyer determined that publicity was not necessary for good sales. For the rest of her life she refused to grant interviews, telling a friend: "My private life concerns no one but myself and my family."
The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and published in book form in the same year. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 film version is the best known.
Edith Nesbit was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also a political activist and co-founder of the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party.
Emilia Tennyson (1811–1887), known simply as Emily within her family, was a younger sister of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and the fiancée of Arthur Henry Hallam, for whom Tennyson's poem, In Memoriam A.H.H., was written. Emilia met Hallam through her brother, and they became engaged in 1832.
Hubert Bland was an English author. He was known for being an infamous libertine, a journalist, an early English socialist, and one of the founders of the Fabian Society. He was the husband of Edith Nesbit.
Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, known professionally by her former married name, A. S. Byatt, was an English critic, novelist, poet and short-story writer. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages.
Ragtime is a novel by E. L. Doctorow, first published in 1975. The sweeping historical fiction occurs in the area of New York City between 1902 and 1912.
Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Asquith was an English writer and socialite, known for her ghost stories and diaries. She also wrote novels, edited a number of anthologies, wrote for children and covered the British Royal family.
Possession: A Romance is a 1990 best-selling novel by English writer A. S. Byatt that won the 1990 Booker Prize for Fiction. The novel explores the postmodern concerns of similar novels, which are often categorised as historiographic metafiction, a genre that blends approaches from both historical fiction and metafiction.
Sylvia Jocelyn Busson Llewelyn Davies was the mother of the boys who were the inspiration for the stories of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. She was the daughter of cartoonist and writer George du Maurier and his wife Emma Wightwick, the elder sister to actor Gerald du Maurier, the aunt of novelists Angela and Daphne du Maurier, and a great-granddaughter of Mary Anne Clarke, royal mistress of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany.
Paula Fox was an American author of novels for adults and children and of two memoirs. For her contributions as a children's writer she won the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1978, the highest international recognition for a creator of children's books. She also won several awards for particular children's books including the 1974 Newbery Medal for her novel The Slave Dancer; a 1983 National Book Award in category Children's Fiction (paperback) for A Place Apart; and the 2008 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for A Portrait of Ivan (1969) in its German-language edition Ein Bild von Ivan.
Charlotte Mary Wilson was an English Fabian and anarchist who co-founded Freedom newspaper in 1886 with Peter Kropotkin, and edited, published, and largely financed it during its first decade. She remained editor of Freedom until 1895.
Dame Hilary Mary Mantel was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, Every Day Is Mother's Day, was released in 1985. She went on to write 12 novels, two collections of short stories, a personal memoir, and numerous articles and opinion pieces.
Maud Pember Reeves was a suffragist, socialist, feminist, writer and member of the Fabian Society. She spent most of her life in New Zealand and Britain.
The Railway Children is a 1970 British family drama film based on the 1906 novel of the same name by E. Nesbit. The film was directed by Lionel Jeffries and stars Dinah Sheridan, Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett, Gary Warren and Bernard Cribbins in leading roles. The film was released to cinemas in the United Kingdom on 21 December 1970.
Snuff is the 39th novel in the Discworld series, written by Terry Pratchett. It was published on 11 October 2011 in the United States, and 13 October 2011 in the United Kingdom. The book sold over 55,000 copies in the first three days.
The Terry family was a British theatrical dynasty of the late 19th century and beyond. The family includes not only those members with the surname Terry, but also Neilsons, Craigs and Gielguds, to whom the Terrys were linked by marriage or blood ties.
The Nice and the Good is a novel by Iris Murdoch. Published in 1968, it was her eleventh novel. The Nice and the Good was shortlisted for the 1969 Booker Prize.
Priscilla Gilman is an American writer and former college professor. She has written about literature, parenting, education, and autism for numerous publications, and is an advocate for autistic people and children. She is the author of The Anti-Romantic Child: A Story of Unexpected Joy, which was inspired by her autistic son Benjamin.
Henry Moncreiff-Wellwood 8th Baronet of Tullibole FRSE was both a baronet in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and minister of the Church of Scotland who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1785. At age only 35 he was one of the youngest-ever moderators. He served as Chaplain to King George III in Scotland.
George Eliot — along with Robert Browning — is one of the fixed stars by which Byatt navigates, and the story told of Eliot could as easily have been told of her disciple.