Summary
Rebecca West was a leading figure in the twentieth century literary scene. A passionate suffragist, socialist, fiercely intelligent, Rebecca West began her career as a writer with articles in The Freewoman and The Clarion . Her first book, a biography of Henry James, was published when she was only twenty-four, and her first novel followed just two years later. She had a notorious affair with H.G. Wells, and their illegitimate son, Anthony, was born at the beginning of the First World War.
The author of several novels, she is perhaps best remembered for her classic account of pre-war Yugoslavia, Black Lamb, Grey Falcon (published by Macmillan in 1941 and as relevant today as it was sixty years ago) and for her coverage of the Nuremberg Trials. When she died in 1983 at the age of 90, William Shawn, then editor-in-chief of the New Yorker , said: "Rebecca West was one of the giants and will have a lasting place in English literature. No one in this century wrote more dazzling prose, or had more wit, or looked at the intricacies of human character and the ways of the world more intelligently." Formidably talented, West was a towering figure in the British literary landscape. Lorna Gibb's vivid and insightful biography affords a dazzling insight into her life and work.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Gibbs (Lady Hester) unfortunately misses the mark in this desultory and bland retelling of the long and storied life of a significant literary and cultural figure of the 20th century. Born CicelyIsabel Fairfield in 1892, West first tried a theatrical career, then turned to writing (taking Rebecca West as her pen name), and became involved with political movements, including the fight for women's suffrage, and worked as a novelist, critic, and journalist well into her old age. Her long, tumultuous affair with the married H.G. Wells, with whom she had a son, proves a central thread, with Wells emerging as a caddish figure. Despite the promising subject, West's life reads as a dreary stream of unhappy love affairs, illness, and strained familial relations, including with her troubled, angry son, Anthony. The era's famous figures make the briefest of cameos: D.H. Lawrence, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Agnes de Mille, the Prince of Wales, and Wallis Simpson. Gibbs's account also falls short of critically assessing West's work and her sometimes controversial political views, such as her rabid anti-communist sentiment. A few moments give the reader hope, as when Gibb discusses West's non-fiction masterpiece about Yugoslavia, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, but these are short-lived. Photos. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Cicely Isabel Fairfield, born in London in 1892, had to leave school at 16. Rebellious and independent, she thought the stage was her destiny, but, drawn to the suffragist cause and the socialist Fabian Society, she began to write, lifting a pseudonym, Rebecca West, from an Ibsen play and quickly making her mark as a critic. At 18, she wrote a blistering review of a novel by H. G. Wells, which led to a heated and messy affair with the married, notoriously unfaithful celebrity writer. West's tragic relationship with their much-wronged son, Anthony, is a dark thread running throughout Gibb's meticulous biography. In spite of persistent sexism, poor health, and myriad hardships, all diligently chronicled here, West worked nonstop, traveling widely and achieving fame for her coverage of the Nuremburg trials, a dozen novels, and many books of nonfiction, including the now-classic book on the Balkans, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941). Avid yet methodical, Gibb offers scant insights into West's writing, concentrating instead on her magnetic subject's complex personality and all the drama and controversy that make West's life truly extraordinary. --Seaman, Donna Copyright 2010 Booklist
Choice Review
Born Cicely Isabel Fairfield, Rebecca West (1892-1983) took her pseudonym from a character in Ibsen's Rosmersholm; her birth name, she said, was better "for someone blonde and pretty and wouldn't have suited a professional writer through life at all." West was a prolific writer of journalism, travel essays, book reviews, novels, and histories, including Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941), about a journey through Yugoslavia, and The Meaning of Treason (1947). Stubborn, aggressive, and forthright in her political views, West ardently supported women's suffrage, was involved in the socialist Fabian Society, championed anarchist Emma Goldman, and spoke out against communism. Her personal life, which involved many love affairs, also contributed to her reputation. Her many lovers included journalist John Gunther, Nuremburg judge Francis Biddle, politician Max Beaverbrook, and H. G. Wells, who was the father of her son, Anthony. She married banker--and womanizer--Harry Maxwell Andrews. Gibb tries to present an evenhanded view of West's troubled relationship with her son, who came to idolize Wells and hate his mother. Drawing largely on archival sources, Gibb (history, Essex Univ., UK) chronicles West's professional career and tumultuous personal life. This book supplements other, more analytical studies of West. --Linda Simon, Skidmore College
Library Journal Review
Numerous biographies have been published about the England-born author, journalist, and critic Cicely Isabel Fairfield (1892-1983), otherwise known as Rebecca West. But Gibb (visiting research fellow, Essex Univ.; Lady Hester) offers a fresh look at a writer who was ahead of her time in the early 20th century. West (The Return of the Soldier) had many successes but also experienced heartache and struggle. While she lived an accomplished career, had many love affairs, including one with H.G. Wells that produced an illegitimate son, and was wed for over three decades to banker Henry Maxwell Andrews, she also encountered a challenging childhood, a strained relationship with her son, and issues in her marriage. Gibb's passion for her subject is illustrated in the writing's rich detail; readers feel like they're witnessing the described accounts firsthand. Using West's correspondences and personal papers, media interviews, and conversations with the writer's friends and employees, the author captures West's point of view and describes how this complicated individual interpreted her relationships and experiences. VERDICT Gibb succeeds in offering an accurate, honest study of a multifaceted woman in this excellent biography. It will particularly appeal to British literary and historical enthusiasts.-Erica Swenson Danowitz, Delaware Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Media, PA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
