Viola Meynell

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Viola Meynell (born October 15, 1885 in London , † October 27, 1956 in Greatham , Sussex ) was an English writer who was best known for her novels and short stories . She was the daughter of the poet Alice Meynell .

life and work

Meynell grew up as one of seven children in a family that was close to both literary circles and the Roman Catholic Church . Her first novel, the romance novel Martha Wine , was published in 1910. Subsequently, Meynell lived alternately in London and on her father's estate in Sussex. In 1915 DH Lawrence spent some time on the estate, portraying the Meynell family in his story England, My England ; However, since she did not see herself presented favorably, she finally ended the friendship.

Meynell's novels are influenced by George Eliot and Thomas Hardy , with their Catholic influences playing an important role. She had the greatest success with Modern Lovers (1914) and Second Marriage (1918). She saw her short stories, which she initially published in magazines from 1918 and with which she reached a broad readership, in the tradition of Anton Chekhov . Compared to the novels, the short stories are often more ironic and less inclined to theological questions. Later in her career, Meynell also worked as a literary journalist and editor. During her life she had little interest in literary modernism .

Meynell broke off two engagements before marrying a neighbor of her father, with whom she had a son, in 1922. However, the marriage did not go well, so that the couple ended up living permanently apart. During the last ten years of her life, Meynell suffered from depression and a nervous disease, of which she died in 1956. Shortly before, she had been working on a volume of short stories that was published posthumously.

bibliography

  • Martha Wine (1910)
  • Cross-in-Hand Farm (1911)
  • Lot Barrow (1913)
  • Modern Lovers (1914)
  • Columbine (1915)
  • Narcissus (1916)
  • Julian Grenfell (1917)
  • Second Marriage (1918)
  • Verses (1919)
  • Antonia (1921)
  • Young Mrs. Cruse (1924)
  • A Girl Adoring (1927)
  • Alice Meynell: A Memoir (1929)
  • The Frozen Ocean and Other Poems (1930)
  • Follow Thy Fair Sun (1935)
  • Kissing the Rod and Other Stories (1937)
  • Lovers (1944)
  • First Love and Other Stories (1947)
  • Ophelia (1951)
  • Francis Thompson and Wilfrid Meynell: A Memoir (1952)
  • Louise and Other Stories (1954)
  • Collected Stories (1957)

supporting documents

  1. ^ A b c Raymond N. MacKenzie: Entry on Viola Meynell, in Paul Schlueter / June Schlueter (eds.): An Encyclopedia of British Women Writers , Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick / New York / London (1998), p. 446f .
personal data
SURNAME Meynell, viola
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 15, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH October 27, 1956
Place of death Greatham ( Sussex , England)