#BlogTour The Shadowy Third: Love, Letters, and Elizabeth Bowen by Julia Parry

'A rare blend of literary biography and family memoir centred around a secret love affair between Elizabeth Bowen and the author’s grandfather.'

It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Shadowy Third: Love, Letters, and Elizabeth Bowen by Julia Parry.

About the Author

Julia Parry was brought up in West Africa and educated at St Andrews and Oxford. She teaches English literature and has worked as a writer and photographer for a variety of publications and charities. She lives in London and Madrid. This is her first book.

About the book

A sudden death in the family delivers Julia a box of love letters. Dusty with age, they reveal an illicit affair between the celebrated twentieth-century Irish novelist Elizabeth Bowen and Humphry House – Julia’s grandfather. So begins an intriguing quest to discover and understand this affair, one with profound repercussions for Julia’s family, not least for her grandmother, Madeline. This is a book about how stories are told in real life, in fiction and in families.

Inspired by Bowen’s own obsession with place and memory, Julia travels to all the locations in the letters – from Kolkata to Cambridge and from Ireland to Texas. The reader is taken from the rarefied air of Oxford in the 1930s, to the Anglo-Irish Big House, to the last days of Empire in India and on into the Second World War.

The fascinating unpublished correspondence, a wealth of family photographs, and a celebrated supporting cast that includes Isaiah Berlin and Virginia Woolf add further richness to this unique work. 

Review

This is a semi-biographical homage to Elizabeth Bowen, the Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer. A woman who had a long-term affair with Humphry House – Julia’s grandfather. The book is a way of examining the past, the love triangle that emerged over the years and putting the truth out there to combat the misconceptions. Her journey begins when an uncle shows her love letters between House and Bowen. What I would call a legacy of correspondence.

I could quote parts of this book over and over again, both the words of the author and those of Elizabeth Bowen. The author has a particularly acute insight into the role of each individual and their perceptions of each other and how they and the situation was perceived by others. 

One of the moments that resonated with me the most was the way Madeline managed to eradicate and diminish her own voice by destroying her correspondence, thereby making herself a character in history as defined, described and as perceived by Bowen and House. It silences her in history and she becomes, like many other women in history, a footnote to the experiences of those who are written into history or leave evidence of themselves behind for future generations.

I was of two minds after reading this, whether the adulation the author has for Bowen's talent supersedes the role of her grandmother in the story. Indeed what would Madeline have said about this book after doing her utmost to change or steer the narrative of the love triangle in the book by Glendinning.

I'm already thinking about who I can buy a copy of this book for. I was absolutely mesmerised by the way Parry made this non-fictional read into a smorgasbord of literary delight. The way the words of Bowen, the letters of family and friends become intertwined with those of the author to create a masterpiece in its own right. A delight to read.

The Shadowy Third: Love, Letters, and Elizabeth Bowen at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publication date: 25 February 2021 - £16.99 Hardback. Buy at Amazon com. Hive. Bookshop org. Waterstones.

#BlogTour The Summer of Madness by Alexander Raphael

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour The Summer of Madness by Alexander Raphael.

About the Author
Half-Welsh, half-Mexican and growing up in London, Alex Raphael was surrounded by different influences and interests. But it was always books that spoke to him most and had the greatest impact. He started writing when at college, where his love of reading evolved into a desire to write, in particular focusing on poetry and short stories.

Studying English and American Literature at university meant he took a break from writing, as well as giving him the chance to see more of Mexico on his travels. He concentrated on his journalistic career while working on different writing projects, but his favourite genre of literature has always been short stories as they are what first inspired him to write.

That’s why his first book was The Summer of Madness, a romantic short story that tells of a guy who goes out to try to win his ex-girlfriend back. Will you be rooting for Kurt and his big public gesture or is it more complicated than that and you don’t want her to date him again? Either way you’ll get to know a memorable set of characters along for the ride.

His second book Illusions, Delusions reflects Raphael’s love of alternative short stories from the writers of his childhood and challenges the idea of the narrative. Will your favourite be the story in the form of a questionnaire, a poem or a set of jokes, among the seven very different styles?
Alex Raphael is currently working on his third collection of short stories, which will provide a wide blend of genres and an assortment of very original premises and distinctive character, with his trademark imagination, humour and memorable dialogue.

Follow on Amazon, on Goodreads, Buy The Summer of Madness  Visit alexanderraphaelwriter.com and alexraphael.wordpress.com,

About the book
In the summer of love, or rather of madness, a whole set of stories are emerging. But there is one that has got everyone talking. When Kurt Vannes decides to win back his ex-girlfriend with the help of a literary classic, he sets off a string of events that will build to a dramatic finale.

Review
It's a short read, perhaps speculative if literary fiction can be considered that. Also disjointed and sometimes seeming like a story with no connection or ability to reach out to the audience - it reminded me of flash fiction. But let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

Raphael draws an interesting comparison between Wuthering Heights and Kurt and his love story and the attempt to regain his lost love. Presented as the boyfriend who wants to win back his girlfriend no matter what - he stages something akin to a romantic ploy to get her back.

Now there is twofold here. Raphael has picked a classic novel, and her favourite book, which is predominantly known for being a romance and tragedy like none other. On the flip-side the author knows many interpret that same story as one of manipulation, of a dysfunctional love, a destructive relationship painted in such unicorn colours that many are willing to forget the darkness and the pain.

Said girlfriend doesn't want to return to him though and views his attempts as manipulative, embarrassing and perhaps even a little scary. The smaller group of individuals who view his attempts as supportive of this Mr Darcyesque public outcry of thwarted love, but when it all becomes known to the wider world the word stalker slips into the vocabulary.

It's intriguing how Raphael presents four views of the same relationship. You have Kurt, the girlfriend, the more intimate gathering and then the wider public. Each has a slightly different view on the matter and his actions, which of course is exactly what happens in real life. The girlfriend and her feelings become secondary to his needs, his wants and his convictions. She is silenced and there is no consent.

The smaller group is convinced by his charm and enthusiasm, whereas the larger group sees a bigger picture or is it more about the greater unknown finding something to critique?

I'd like to see the author bring more order into both his ideas, the dialogue and the writing. There can't be any expectation that the audience will see what is inside your head and what you believe is on the pages - reading will always remain a subjective experience.

Buy The Summer of Madness at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy at Amazon com.