Virago Monthly Reads: Apr 2018: Rosamond Lehmann

Well, if I'm correct, April is the month for us to read all the Rosamond Lehmann books we have lurking on our shelves! I have done spectacularly badly with our monthly challenge so far this year, but I will do my very best this month! :)

(picture pinched from HeavenAli's site!!)

Wikipedia says of Lehmann:

"Rosamond Lehmann was born in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, the second of four children of Rudolph Chambers Lehmann (1856–1929) and his American wife, Alice Mary Davis (1873–1956), from New England. Rosamond's father was a Liberal MP, founder of Granta magazine and editor of the Daily News. Her older sister was Helen Chambers Lehmann (1899–1985), and her younger sister was the actress Beatrix Lehmann (1903–1979). Her younger brother was John Lehmann (1907–1989), the writer and publisher. The American playwright Owen Davis was her cousin, and her great-grandfather Robert Chambers founded Chambers Dictionary. Her great-uncle was the artist Rudolf Lehmann.

Home educated, in 1919 she won a scholarship to Girton College, Cambridge. She graduated with a second class degree in both English Literature (1921) and Modern and Medieval Languages (1922). In December 1923 she married Walter Leslie Runciman (later 2nd Viscount Runciman of Doxford) (1900–1989), and the couple went to live in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was an unhappy marriage: they separated in 1927 and were divorced later that year.

In 1927, Lehmann published her first novel, Dusty Answer, to great critical and popular acclaim. The novel's heroine, Judith, is attracted to both men and women, and interacts with fairly openly gay and lesbian characters during her years at Cambridge. The novel was a succès de scandale. Though none of her later novels were as successful as her first, Lehmann went on to publish six more, as well as a play (No More Music, 1939), a collection of short stories (The Gypsy's Baby & Other Stories, 1946), a spiritual autobiography (The Swan in the Evening, 1967), and a photographic memoir of her friends (Rosamond Lehmann's Album, 1985), many of whom were famous Bloomsbury Group figures such as Leonard and Virginia Woolf, Dora Carrington, and Lytton Strachey. She also translated two French novels into English: Jacques Lemarchand's Genevieve (1948) and Jean Cocteau's The Holy Terrors (1955). Her novels include A Note in Music (1930), Invitation to the Waltz (1932), The Weather in the Streets (1936), The Ballad and the Source (1944), The Echoing Grove (1953), and A Sea-Grape Tree (1976).

In 1928, Lehmann married Wogan Philipps, an artist who later succeeded his father as Wogan Philipps, 2nd Baron Milford. They had two children, a son Hugo (1929–1999) and a daughter Sarah, also known as Sally (1934–1958). The family lived at Ipsden House in Oxfordshire between 1930 and 1939. The marriage fell apart during the late Thirties with her husband leaving to take part in the Spanish Civil War. During World War II Lehmann helped to edit and also contributed to New Writing, a periodical edited by her brother, John Lehmann. She had an affair with the journalist Goronwy Rees and then a "very public affair" for nine years (1941–1950) with the married poet Cecil Day-Lewis, who eventually left her to marry his second wife, Jill Balcon.

An active opponent of fascism, Lehmann spoke at anti-fascist meetings in 1938 in Paris and London.

The Weather in the Streets (1936) was made into a movie in 1983 and starred Michael York and Joanna Lumley. Lehmann visited the film set in Cheltenham.

Her 1944 book The Ballad and the Source depicts an unhappy marriage from the point of view of a child, and has been compared to Henry James' What Maisie Knew.

Her 1953 novel The Echoing Grove was made into the 2002 film Heart of Me, starring Helena Bonham Carter as the main character, Dinah.

The Swan in the Evening (1967) is an autobiography which Lehmann described as her "Last Testament". In it, she intimately describes the emotions she felt at the birth of her daughter Sally, and also when Sally died abruptly of poliomyelitis at the age of 23 (or 24) in 1958 while in Jakarta, Indonesia. She never recovered from Sally's death and claimed to have had psychic experiences related to Sally, which were documented in Moments of Truth.

Lehmann was awarded the CBE in 1982. Nearly blind from cataracts, she died at home in Clareville Grove, London on 12 March 1990, aged 89."

Thank you for getting us started, Karen!

I was surprised to find I haven't read anything by Rosamond Lehmann. I have a few of her books and after reading the descriptions, I think I'll read A Note in Music. I also have Invitation to the Waltz, The Weather in the Streets, and The Gipsy's Baby and Other Stories, and could be swayed if anyone pipes up and recommends one of those as a favorite.

I'm returning to this board after a while away and will try to read one book by each nominated author for the rest of the year. I've several unread Lehmanns, The Echoing Grove, The Ballad and the Source and The Gypsy's Baby but I've decided on A Note in Music for the random reason that I've had it the longest.

>3 lauralkeet: I’ve actually only read Dusty Answer so I have plenty of choice... 😁

I'll be reading A Note in Music and maybe The Swan in the Evening.

I've also read all of my Lehmanns. Echoing Grove is my favorite. Wonderful in a horrible sort of way :)

I have started with The Gipsy's Baby because it's short stories and I am reading them aloud (but not in order). We both liked "The Red-Haired Miss Daintreys" but not the short 'essay' about the writing process it began with. In fact it nearly put us off reading the rest of the story and we thought it unnecessary.

I have read all Rosamond Lehman's books as far as I know. Love her, but probably won't have time this month for re-reading. Enjoy, she is a wonderful writer.

My first Lehmann, The Ballad and the Source. The plot wasn't all that great (not bad, just not all that great), but I loved the narrative POV of the young girl, hence 4****.

I think I'll go next to The Gipsy's Baby, like >8 europhile: because it's short stories.

We finished The Gipsy's Baby over the weekend. Some of the stories were set in wartime. There was an impressive amount of well-written dialogue, particularly in the longest story, "Wonderful Holidays". Some elements of the title story reminded me a little of Katherine Mansfield's "The Doll's House" and Rumer Godden's The Diddakoi. On the whole the longer stories were more memorable but I think I liked "The Red-Haired Miss Daintreys" the best. An enjoyable read.

ETA: I was going to attempt A Sea-Grape Tree next but I now see that it is a kind of sequel to The Ballad and the Source. Instead I have picked up Selina Hastings' fairly extensive biography Rosamond Lehmann from the library and will tackle that first.

I started A Note in Music last night and while the initial stage-setting is rather sobering, I was quickly immersed in the story. It seems lately I've been drawn to the Viragos that are about middle aged married women (E.H. Young's Celia was another example). I'm finding their stories more interesting than those about young love and romance.

I finished A note in music while I was on holiday last week. I love Lehmann's writing, both how she gets into her characters' heads and how she describes the world around them. This is a quiet novel about seemingly insignificant events which cause great emotional impact. I especially loved Grace supporting her housemaid who becomes pregnant out of wedlock, something for which a less sympathetic employer would have dismissed her without references.

The only other book by Lehmann that I own but haven't read is The gypsy's baby, so I will be reading that next.

>13 Sakerfalcon: I'll return for your spoiler later, Claire!

I've finished A Note in Music and am not sure how I feel about it. This was my 4th Rosamond Lehmann book and my favorite is still the first I read, Dusty Answer. But I think I'll remember many of ANIM's characters for a long time. And I thought the final scenes between the couples were perfect.

I've also finished A Note in Music and agree the characters are quite memorable, as are the final scenes between the couples. For most of the novel I really wasn't sure where it was all going, but enjoyed the quiet nature of the book nonetheless.

>13 Sakerfalcon: Now I've read your spoiler, Claire, and I quite agree.

As I've finally finished all my E. H. Young books I'm about to start Dusty Answer as my fiction read to accompany the biography mentioned earlier.

>16 lauralkeet: I liked your review for A note in music; it encapsulates the book very well.

I've just started The gypsy's baby.

>18 Sakerfalcon: thank you, Claire. There was much more I could have said about the characters and their relationships, but I don't like to say too much in a review.

Speaking of ... I find it interesting the way authors of this time period write about homosexuality. It's all so veiled and indirect. In this case, all of the references to Oliver, and the gradual reveal that both Hugh and the young cousin (forget his name) have some sort of relationship with Oliver. And Hugh's devil-may-care attitude around Pansy, masking a complete aversion to women. I end up questioning myself -- is this what I think it is? -- because the authors don't come right out with it.

I just finished The Gipsy's Baby and very much liked the three longer stories. As for the two shorter ones, they weren't bad, but Lehmann seemed in them to be using overly flowery prose to compensate for less plot detail. My two particular favorites were "The Gipsy's Baby" and "The Red-Haired Miss Daintreys" told from a child's perspective – and with the return of Rebecca from The Ballad and the Source. (Or do these stories predate TB&tS?)

I'm an occasional lurker in this group, but last year you helped me read one of the Edith Wharton books on my TBR pile and you've done the same for me with Rosamond Lehmann!

I bought Invitation to the Waltz and The Weather in the Streets ten years ago and I have now finally read the former. It was my first Lehmann book and I loved it, so am hoping to start The Weather in the Streets this weekend.

My full review is here on my Club Read thread, but the short version is that I enjoyed being immersed in the world of an idealistic 17-year-old on the verge of womanhood and experiencing with her the highs and lows of her much-anticipated first dance. It's a short book with a narrow focus, but Lehmann manages to do so much in those pages. Her writing seems light, but it carries so much meaning.

>21 Rebeki: welcome! I'm so glad you de-lurked. This was my first time reading Rosamond Lehmann and she's wonderful. I would like to read Invitation to the Waltz, too, but I won't get to it this month.

Which Edith Wharton did you read last year? Was it your first book by her? She's one of my all-time favorite American authors.

I have copies of Dusty Answer (a newer Virago) and The Weather in the Streets (not a Virago at all) on my shelves. In fact, I knew I had The Weather in the Streets here somewhere, but it wasn't in my catalog and it took me a time to find it, since it wasn't shelved with the Viragos (won't fit). Now my question is this---is it necessary to read Invitation to the Waltz before reading Weather?

I managed to finish A Note in Music and – ugh! – positively couldn't stand it. There were just way too many descriptive passages about flowers and trees and birds and wildlife, way too much overdone, overwritten. I might well not have finished it if it hadn't been for this monthly read. I felt like I was reading about an arboretum!

I'm about to start Invitation to the Waltz, which I just bought since it's the preceding book to The Weather in the Streets, which is a book I already had and which I want to get to for the purpose of ROOTing. I also just bought A Sea-Grape Tree for the sake of Rebecca's narrative voice, which I loved in The Ballad and the Source.

>24 CurrerBell: It's interesting how differently you responded to A Note in Music, Mike. I read your comments and thought, "what flowers and trees and birds and wildlife?" A slight exaggeration, but I wasn't struck by that aspect the way you were. Chacun à son goût, I suppose!

>23 laytonwoman3rd: I don't think so, although reading Invitation to the Waltz first might make you more sympathetic to some of the characters who are less likeable in The Weather in the Streets.

>24 CurrerBell: That bugged me too. I just skipped those parts.

I had the same response to A Note in Music as Mike. I was bored stiff. But I have not felt that way about others of hers at all.

Whereas I liked the nature writing, and the characters, in A note in music! Isn't it funny how a book can provoke such mixed responses? Makes for a better discussion than when everyone thinks the same.

I'm enjoying the stories in The gypsy's baby so far, having read the first 4 of 5. Now I feel I should reread The ballad and the source, to remind me of Rebecca's story after reading the two tales narrated by her.

>26 surtsey: Thanks for the input, Sarah. I went ahead an ordered a used copy of Invitation yesterday, If it comes shortly, I'll start there.

I finished The gypsy's baby today and really enjoyed the last story, Wonderful Holidays. I thought the children were particularly realistic in the way their attention was so quickly diverted from one thing of burning importance to another - such as Jane's absolute desperation that her trunk arrive soon, but when her mother tells her it has she takes the news very casually because she's now more concerned about a lost dog. I also liked that the war was ever present though largely taken for granted as part of the background to daily life. This was a very strong collection of stories, though I agree with CurrerBell that the three longest pieces were the strongest.

Invitation to the Waltz (4****) contains some of that "flowers and trees" (and in this case, also some "snow") stuff – the overblown "nature descriptions" that drive me crazy in A Note in Music – but it's not quite so overdone, Olivia's an interesting character throughout, and it really picks up once the girls get to the ball. Hence 4****, though that's perhaps generous and 3½*** might be more appropriate.

I'm definitely anxious to get on to The Weather in the Streets for Olivia's sequel. I've had The Weather around for quite some time so it qualifies as a ROOT, though I bought Invitation to the Waltz specifically for this month's VMC read to get a proper intro to the Olivia duad.

>22 lauralkeet: Thank you! And sorry to take a few days to reply. I read The House of Mirth last year, having re-read The Age of Innocence a few years earlier and loved it. I first read The Age of Innocence as a teenager, when I think it was slightly lost on me, along with The Buccaneers because of the TV mini-series, which I have little memory of. With my new-found enthusiasm, I now have a few Whartons on my pile, though I haven't decided which to read next...

Back to Rosamond Lehmann:

>23 laytonwoman3rd: >26 surtsey: >29 laytonwoman3rd: I've just started The Weather in the Streets, not long after finishing Invitation to the Waltz and I'm pleased I met young, idealistic Olivia before the more jaded version she already appears to be in the second book.

>33 Rebeki: thanks for sharing your Edith Wharton reads. Like you, I read The Age of Innocence in my younger years, I think my 20s, and it wasn't lost on me but I didn't appreciate it either. Somehow I missed being assigned Ethan Frome in high school (a common practice in the US but I haven't come across too many teens who recommend it with enthusiasm). Many many years later I was lucky to attend a LibraryThing meetup where we visited Wharton's estate, The Mount. I picked up House of Mirth, adored it, and have read several more since. The Custom of the Country is my favorite, but I have several in Virago editions that I'd never heard of before and have enjoyed them as well.

Dusty Answer was very evocative of both landscape and emotions as seen and felt by the central character, Judith. I empathised with her lonely upbringing and enjoyed the atmosphere of country living, especially the picnics and boating on the river. Judith did seem to be in love with all the family in the neighbouring house at one time or another, even though some of them weren't particularly likeable characters. Some parts of the story were a bit emotionally overwrought but this was probably appropriate given Judith's age and inexperience in relationships with people, as well as the fact that her intellectual father died when she was quite young and her mother was absent quite a lot of the time (and fairly remote even when she was there). I liked the part set in the women's college in Cambridge too, with its rather different interactions and relationships. I have now moved on to The Echoing Grove.

I finished The Ballad and the Source yesterday and found it somewhat mesmerizing and fervid.

I just finished The Weather in the Streets and gave it 3½*** – not that I didn't like it, but I don't put it quite on the 4****-level of Invitation to the Waltz. I enjoyed seeing the return of the various characters from IttW, but I prefer Lehmann's use of a child's (or immature teen's) narrative voice. Also, I think Lehmann's better at shorter works, that she tends for longer works to throw in too much "filler" in the form of descriptive narrative.

I'm surprised that Lehmann was able to get some of the content of TWitS past 1936-censorship, controversial subjects like abortion and homosexuality which weren't handled in the way of "bad girls (or boys) go to Hell."

Incidentally, did anyone notice in Weather in the Streets, that Lehmann rather frequently (and sometimes even in the same sentence) slipped from a third-person narrator to Olivia's first-person narration? I found this a bit disconcerting.

And what exactly does the title of Weather in the Streets mean?

On to A Sea-Grape Tree, which will be my last of Lehmann and which I just bought a couple weeks ago because of the return of Rebecca.

>37 CurrerBell: I haven't read The Weather in the Streets, but having just finished Invitation to the Waltz and being quite taken with it (to my surprise), I want to follow up with Weather. In answer to your question though, and based on what I know of the book, I suspect it may refer to heavy going, in the sense that someone might say "we're expecting weather today", in this case Olivia's own trials out in the world.

>38 SassyLassy: It was a heavier book than Invitation, but it made me laugh out loud a few times. Rosamond Lehmann has a comical sensibility I wish came through more often.

>37 CurrerBell:, >38 SassyLassy: I haven't read The Weather in the Streets yet either, but here's what one of the on-line study guides says about the weather theme:

"Weather has much to do with the book, as its title suggests. When Olivia’s affair with Rollo is going well, the weather is clear and agreeable; when the affair is deteriorating, the weather is stormy and thunderclaps are heard. During Olivia’s tense meeting with Lady Spencer in August, the air is heavy, and before the meeting is over, the sky has opened and the rain comes pouring down.

Yet the weather also represents Olivia’s inner self and her reactions to her relationship with Rollo. He protects her from the weather, drives her in his car or gives her money for taxicabs so that she can escape the weather in the streets. Bad weather is threatening to her, and Rollo, while their affair is going well, reduces that threat, that insecurity, primarily by helping her to overcome her feelings of inferiority. The superiority that Olivia feels at Simon’s party because she is attached to Rollo clearly reflects the way in which he insulates her from her own insecurities. "

The second paragraph seems to fit pretty well with Sassy's interpretation. Being "in the streets" exposes you to the weather.

My copy of Invitation to the Waltz has been shipped, but hasn't arrived yet, so I'm unlikely to get to Lehmann during April. I may just stretch her into May, though, as I'm liking what y'all are saying about her works here, and I know I won't be picking up any Angela Carter in May.

EDIT: Aha! Invitation to the Waltz was in my mailbox when I got home from errands. AND, it's a green-spine. I didn't expect that when I ordered it, as that wasn't the edition that was pictured. WIN!

>40 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks!

I just finished A Sea-Grape Tree and this afternoon discovered The Echoing Grove in my car. I'd forgotten I'd just bought it a week or two ago at a used book store, so I'll get on to it and hope to finish it before Tuesday.

A Sea-Grape Tree at 3½***, primarily for Rebecca's return. I thought Lehmann's descriptive passages worked better in this one than in some others such asThe Weather in the Streets, and I think that's because the descriptive passages were narrated subjectively by Rebecca, almost like Joycean stream-of-consciousness. (In fact, the concluding going-away party struck me a bit like the drunken Circe chapter of Ulysses – I know, a rather weird comparison.)

One of my favourite podcasts are from Backlisted. Last year, they did a brilliant podcast featuring Lehmann's Weather in the Streets. Novelist Elizabeth Day is the guest speaker with John Mitchinson and Andy Miller - and there's a wonderful audio clip of Rosamond talking. https://unbound.com/backlisted

I read A Note in Music this month - the first Lehmann book I've read for a while. I was struck by the unspoken desperation of the lives of some of the characters, and felt pleased that Grace was able to get away from home and enjoy a short respite from the dreariness even if it was only temporary.

I haven't done much reading recently so it's taken quite a while to finish The Echoing Grove. It didn't really appeal to me. Maybe my mood didn't suit it at the moment but I couldn't get involved in any of the three main characters' lives. I found all of them unappealing and did not understand how at least three women could have fallen in love with Rickie (he was just so annoying!). Also, because I read it intermittently and in quite small chunks I had trouble remembering who some characters were or how they fitted in to the story. I had trouble with the time periods jumping around too. In the end I had to make myself finish it before I could pick up something else. I'm sure it was well written but I found it disappointing after really liking her first novel. I'm still reading the interesting biography but it may take some time as I'm going away shortly and it's too large to take with me.

I agree Grant - which is why I described it (above) as - 'Wonderful in a horrible sort of way :)' Everyone in the book was, as you say, unappealing and of course things get ugly as the two sisters fight over the same man. I found myself gleefully channeling my inner Dr. Phil (What were you THINKIN'?!) as the whole thing unraveled.

I finally finished The Echoing Grove (3½***) and didn't that much care for it, partly for the same reason as >45 europhile:, though my liking or disliking characters shouldn't normally be an issue. Interestingly, it reminded me of Deerbrook in the husband-wife-sister triangle, though it was certainly better than Deerbrook, which I found completely unrealistic.

A slow read. I had a problem with the time-shifts, but that was probably more me than anything else, because they seemed fairly well-executed. The confusion I suffered may have resulted from my not giving the reading enough attention, considering that I just got a diagnosis of prostate cancer, which left with me with some RL issues a little more important than reading Lehmann at the moment.

That's why I've rated The Echoing Grove @3½*** — because I think I'm being a bit unfair to Lehmann, just because of personal RL distractions on this one, and I do think her use of time-shifts was fairly well-executed, even if not comparably successful as Conrad's in The Secret Agent.

God, Mike, you're having a year of health issues. I am soooo sorry!

Rosamond Lehmann by Selina Hastings is a fairly lengthy biography but very well written. Rosamond was a fascinating character and her family relationships were very up and down (to put it mildly). She also encountered many other people of interest to me in different phases of her life (e.g. the 'Bloomsberries', Elizabeth Bowen, Nancy Mitford etc. etc.) The afterword explaining the author's difficulties in dealing with her subject is enlightening too. I would like to read the same author's biography of Evelyn Waugh. Also Invitation to the Waltz in particular of Lehmann's novels.