LETTERS TO A SISTER

by Rose Macaulay ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 22, 1964

Following the publication of Rose Macaulay's letters to Father Hamilton Johnson, these to her sister Jean now appear, and span the years from 1926 when she was forty-five to her death in 1958. Written with the lucid intelligence we have come to expect from her, they also reveal the warmth of familial affection for the sister closest in age, whom she termed her ""twin"" during the period every year when their ages met. Jean, a pioneer in District Nursing, is a distinguished person in her own right, decorated with the M.B.E. for her work. The letters to Jean concern the topics of the times and Rose's literary connections but do not involve themselves in sustained intellectual apprehension or argument. Here is talk of the General Strike, of Mussolini and Abyssinia, of Rose's firm pacifism in the face of incipient World War II, which gave way to action as an ambulance driver during the bombing of London. Here are the trips taken to Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Ireland, Venice, of which she was enamored and where her Venice Besieged, a novel in progress at her death which comes at the close of her letters, was set. But the references to birthdays, to the Critic and New Statesman aside, it is the life of the church which receives the most attention; Jean as a firm Anglican welcomed her sister's return to the Church of England. Rose seems to have received her greatest satisfaction from the spiritual reaction to her Towers of Trebizond. A benevolent memento.

Pub Date: May 22, 1964

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: theneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1964

Categories: NONFICTION