MAZO DE LA ROCHE OF JALNA

by Ronald Hambledon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 9, 1966

With the publication of her last book, the London Times commented: ""the Jalna marathon has, indeed, moved outside the range of literary criteria."" Some critics will maintain they were never to be applied at the outset; not Mr. Hambledon who sees in her work a great many time-resistant virtues, ""sensibility,"" motifs and even symbolism. The evidence in this last section of his book about her is not enough to convince those who think of her as a popular phenomenon of her time and a time in the reading experience of a great many adolescents. Actually if she was a ""complex"" personality, one must accept his word for it; she lived very quietly, as shown here through her correspondence (friends, publishers), her own autobiography, her two close attachments, his own acquaintance with her which began late in her life, 1954. She was a spinster; she adopted two children--""precious lambs""; the death of her dog gave her a six months' writing block. Mr. Hambledon also spends quite some time on the actual Canadian setting of the Whiteoaks terrain which gave such an ""impact of locality and actuality"" to the sixteen volume roman fleuve. She was a recluse for the last twenty years of a very uninteresting life, this assiduous testimonial notwithstanding.

Pub Date: Nov. 9, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Hawthorn

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1966

Categories: NONFICTION