Life & Loves Of E.Nesbit by Eleanor Fitzsimmons

109 in stock

129mm x 196mm x 30mm

Pages: 338

A SUNDAY TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

A terrific book. Neil Gaiman

Edith Nesbit is considered the inventor of the childrens adventure story and her brilliant childrens books influenced bestselling authors including C.S. Lewis, P. L. Travers, J.K. Rowling, and Jacqueline Wilson, to name but a few. But who was the person behind the best loved classics The Railway Children and Five Children and It? Her once-happy childhood was eclipsed by the chronic illness and early death of her sister. In adulthood, she found herself at the centre of a love triangle between her husband and her close friend. She raised their children as her own.

Yet despite these troubling circumstances Nesbit was playful, contradictory and creative. She hosted legendary parties at her idiosyncratic Well Hall home and was described by George Bernard Shaw - one of several lovers - as audaciously unconventional. She was also an outspoken Marxist and founding member of the Fabian Society. Through Nesbits letters and deep archival research, Eleanor Fitzsimons reveals her as a prolific activist and writer on socialism. Nesbit railed against inequity, social injustice and state-sponsored oppression and incorporated her avant-garde ideas into her writing, influencing a generation of children - an aspect of her legacy examined here for the first time.Eleanor Fitzsimons, acclaimed biographer and prize winning author of Wildes Women, has written the most authoritative biography in more than three decades. Here, she brings to light the extraordinary life story of an icon, creating a portrait of a woman in whom pragmatism and idealism worked side-by-side to produce a singular mind and literary talent.

PRAISE FOR THE LIFE AND LOVES OF E. NESBIT

A very well-researched biography. Kate Atkinson

Eleanor Fitzsimons painstaking research gives us a new insight into the bizarre Bohemian life of the groundbreaking childrens author E. Nesbit. Its a fantastic read. Jacqueline Wilson

Absolutely superb! Hilary McKay, childrens author of The Skylarks War (shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards)

In this long-overdue new biography, Eleanor Fitzsimons gives us a nuanced yet compelling portrait of E. Nesbits many-facetted personality, life and works, as well as of the politically and culturally vibrant milieu in which she lived. Fiona Sampson, author of In Search of Mary Shelley

What a stirring and unexpected story Eleanor Fitzsimons tells and what a subject she has found. I cant think of a single writer who doesnt owe something to Edith Nesbits glorious books for children. The extraordinary woman who wrote them proves to be every bit as brave, funny and imaginative as her own intrepid characters. Miranda Seymour, author of In Byrons Wake

One of the greatest childrens writers, and an acknowledged much loved influence on Joan Aiken E. Nesbit is celebrated in this wonderful new biography by Eleanor Fitzsimons. Lizza Aiken, daughter of Joan Aiken

An exceptional biography about an absolutely fascinating individual. Adam Roberts, Vice-President of the H.G. Wells Society

A fascinating, thoughtfully organized, thoroughly researched, often surprising biography. Kirkus Review

Fitzsimons delivers a sprightly and highly readable life of a writer who deserves even wider recognition. Publishers Weekly