Which Way by Theodora Benson-first published in 1931 This edition published in 2021 by The British Library 96 Euston Road London nw1 2db Copyright © 2021 Estate of Theodora Benson Preface copyright © 2021 Tanya Kirk Afterword copyright © 2021 Simon Thomas
Part of a curated collection of forgotten works by early to mid-century women writers, the British Library Women Writers series highlights the best middlebrow fiction from the 1910s to the 1960s, offering escapism, popular appeal and plenty of period detail to amuse, surprise and inform.” From The British Library
Biography
21st August 1906 - Eleanor Theodora Roby Benson is born to Godfrey Rathbone Benson, 1st Baron Charnwood and Dorothea Mary Roby Thorpe. Theodora is their third child.
June 1925 - Theodora made her debut into society.
October 1928 - Theodora’s first novel, ‘Salad Days’, is published in London by Cayme Press.
October 1930 - Theodora’s first novel written in collaboration with Betty Askwith, ‘Lobster Quadrille’, is published by Grant Richards.
18th January 1938 - Theodora becomes a regular columnist for ‘The Daily Mirror’ newspaper.
11th October 1947 - Theodora makes her BBC radio debut as a writer.
25th December 1968 - Theodora dies on Christmas Day at the age of 62. The cause of death is attributed to pneumonia. She never married
There are currently 15 works in the British Library Women Writers Series. I am hoping to read through them EVENTUALLY. Most are fairly brief and all include author bios and expert commentaries. The Kindle Editions are under $4.00.
British Women Library Women Series Works I have so far read
Strange Journey by Maud Cairnes -1935
The Love Child by Edith Olivier - 1927
Tea is So Intoxicating by Ursula Bloom (writing as Mary Essex)- 1950
Father by Elizabeth Von Armin - 1931
We often wonder how our lives might have turned on seemingly at the moment inconsequential decisions. In Which Way Benson shows us how three different decisions about how to spend a weekend lead Claudia on three very different paths.
I very much enjoyed the elegant descriptions of Claudia's social circles. We see how her decisions lead her to relationships with different sorts of men, to marriage, or otherwise.
I loved the wonderful literary quotations with which the chapters begin. The authors include classic English poets like Wordsworth and Tennyson, the translated work of Gilbert Murray to several French writers. Claudia spends some time in Paris and there are several delightful epistles dedicated as to how Claudia will spend her weekend.
I will next in this series read An Invitation to See the Peep Show.
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