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Mansfield
One of the Bloomsbury set, Katherine Mansfield’s relationship with John Middleton Murry and her struggle to write the “new kind of fiction” of the time is the subject of this novel, an appealing portrait of a writer and her celebrated circle.
256 pages, Paperback
First published March 30, 2004
5 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
C.K. Stead
68 books22 followersChristian Karlson Stead is a New Zealand writer whose works include novels, poetry, short stories, and literary criticism.
One of Karl Stead's novels, Smith's Dream, provided the basis for the film Sleeping Dogs, starring Sam Neill; this became the first New Zealand film released in the United States.
Mansfield: A Novel was a finalist for the 2005 Tasmania Pacific Fiction Prize and received commendation in the 2005 Commonwealth Writers Prize for the South East Asia and South Pacific region.
C. K. Stead was born in Auckland. For much of his career he was Professor of English at the University of Auckland, retiring in 1986 to write full-time. He received a CBE in 1985 and was admitted into the highest honour New Zealand can bestow, the Order of New Zealand in 2007.
One of Karl Stead's novels, Smith's Dream, provided the basis for the film Sleeping Dogs, starring Sam Neill; this became the first New Zealand film released in the United States.
Mansfield: A Novel was a finalist for the 2005 Tasmania Pacific Fiction Prize and received commendation in the 2005 Commonwealth Writers Prize for the South East Asia and South Pacific region.
C. K. Stead was born in Auckland. For much of his career he was Professor of English at the University of Auckland, retiring in 1986 to write full-time. He received a CBE in 1985 and was admitted into the highest honour New Zealand can bestow, the Order of New Zealand in 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 17, 2012
Hmm, I wasn’t wildly enthusiastic about this.
I’ve had a copy of The Death of the Body on my New Zealand TBR for ages, but Mansfield, A Novel, is my first book by acclaimed New Zealand writer, C.K. Stead, and I was expecting to be very impressed. Somehow, although there were moments when I quite enjoyed this book, it didn’t really engage me. It was a mildly interesting ‘refresher’ about aspects of Katherine Mansfield’s life, but it didn’t seem to offer much more.
It was an advantage to have read Katherine Mansfield, The Storyteller by Kathleen Jones beforehand. (See my enthusiastic review). That was such a good, well-written and fascinating biography that I already knew enough about Mansfield’s life to make sense of – and augment – what I came across in this novel.
But I suspect that many readers of C.K Stead’s book would feel the same as I did: a bit nonplussed about his intentions. What more was there for a reader to gain in a re-imagining of these three years in Katherine Mansfield’s life, the war years when she was tormented by her on-again-off-again relationship with Jack Middleton-Murry? Is there more to this book than mere homage? Is it for fans of KM, who already know a lot about her, or for newbies, who don’t know much about this remarkable author who changed the face of modern writing?
To see the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/03/17/ma...
I’ve had a copy of The Death of the Body on my New Zealand TBR for ages, but Mansfield, A Novel, is my first book by acclaimed New Zealand writer, C.K. Stead, and I was expecting to be very impressed. Somehow, although there were moments when I quite enjoyed this book, it didn’t really engage me. It was a mildly interesting ‘refresher’ about aspects of Katherine Mansfield’s life, but it didn’t seem to offer much more.
It was an advantage to have read Katherine Mansfield, The Storyteller by Kathleen Jones beforehand. (See my enthusiastic review). That was such a good, well-written and fascinating biography that I already knew enough about Mansfield’s life to make sense of – and augment – what I came across in this novel.
But I suspect that many readers of C.K Stead’s book would feel the same as I did: a bit nonplussed about his intentions. What more was there for a reader to gain in a re-imagining of these three years in Katherine Mansfield’s life, the war years when she was tormented by her on-again-off-again relationship with Jack Middleton-Murry? Is there more to this book than mere homage? Is it for fans of KM, who already know a lot about her, or for newbies, who don’t know much about this remarkable author who changed the face of modern writing?
To see the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/03/17/ma...
March 1, 2014
I am finding it a little difficult to review this book. Imagine taking 3 years out of the life of a person, and trying to define them by those years as though they sprang out of nowhere and then disappear back to wherever they came from. The story was fascinating, and all the literary characters of the age parade through as caricatures of themselves. Siegfried Sassoon (the wounded soldier who speaks out against the war) whose story is told in [Regeneration] even makes an appearance.
Mansfield herself comes across as a conflicted, but fairly self-aware, hardworking author. She seems to understand her weaknesses and what she needs in order to work successfully. I would have preferred to know more of her life in New Zealand to give more depth to her personality as a young artist during WWI.
The book was divided into sections like acts in a play. Scenes were set up and acted out and taken down. I am not saying that it was a bad thing, it flowed along well enough, but it was a different style and took some getting used to. I am very glad that I have passing familiarity with the writers and the culture of the time period. If I hadn't, I think it would have been really difficult to follow. My overall impression is of Katherine Mansfield as a sort of female Hemingway, which may or may not be accurate...
I would read other books by Stead. There were beautifully written spots.
ETA: I had to come back and add this quote because it is such a picture of Wellington.
They spent the rest of the day together, walking about London and talking about Wellington. It was as if each acted as the other's guide. She took him about in fact, he led her back in memory and imagination. That night, when she lay wide awake letting her mind take its own direction, it was as if she'd spent those hours in air fresh as the first Washday of creation, under high blue-and-white skies, seeing shirts and blouses filled to bursting by the Wellington wind, pegged out and tugging to get away from green gardens and white weatherboard houses which propped themselves against steepnesses that everywhere dived into the sea - into the beautiful harbour from which she'd sailed out seven years before.
Mansfield herself comes across as a conflicted, but fairly self-aware, hardworking author. She seems to understand her weaknesses and what she needs in order to work successfully. I would have preferred to know more of her life in New Zealand to give more depth to her personality as a young artist during WWI.
The book was divided into sections like acts in a play. Scenes were set up and acted out and taken down. I am not saying that it was a bad thing, it flowed along well enough, but it was a different style and took some getting used to. I am very glad that I have passing familiarity with the writers and the culture of the time period. If I hadn't, I think it would have been really difficult to follow. My overall impression is of Katherine Mansfield as a sort of female Hemingway, which may or may not be accurate...
I would read other books by Stead. There were beautifully written spots.
ETA: I had to come back and add this quote because it is such a picture of Wellington.
They spent the rest of the day together, walking about London and talking about Wellington. It was as if each acted as the other's guide. She took him about in fact, he led her back in memory and imagination. That night, when she lay wide awake letting her mind take its own direction, it was as if she'd spent those hours in air fresh as the first Washday of creation, under high blue-and-white skies, seeing shirts and blouses filled to bursting by the Wellington wind, pegged out and tugging to get away from green gardens and white weatherboard houses which propped themselves against steepnesses that everywhere dived into the sea - into the beautiful harbour from which she'd sailed out seven years before.
June 14, 2013
I knew very little about Katherine Mansfield, a New Zealand born writer who is said to have defined the short story, before starting this novel. Now I have finished, it has left me feeling a bit more knowledgeable, but not fully satisfied. From what I can gather, the main fascination people have with her life is her on-off relationship with John/Jack Murry, and the way she left most men (and even some women) spellbound after meeting and having a conversation with her. She moved in very literary circles – counting D.H. Lawrence, T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf and Aldous Huxley as close friends, and it was interesting to get a small snapshot of their lives as well as Katherine’s. I was especially intrigued by Lawrence, and his fiery “love-hate” relationship with his wife. I never had him down as a wife beater you know?!
This novel is set over a three year period during the First World War which led to her beloved brother Leslie being killed. It seems to have been a constant prey upon Katherine’s mind, especially after his death and some of the descriptions of the country at war by the author are fascinating. We also hear of Katherine’s struggles with writing, dreaming of being able to write something that would blow people away – “a new kind of fiction,” as she calls it. I also enjoyed the fact that we can see her story from other individual perspectives, even if everybody seemed to be madly in love with her, like her lover Murry and D.H. Lawrence’s long-suffering wife. From this novel, it came across as if Katherine got slightly bored with men once the initial romantic element had dissipated, and didn’t seem to know her hearts own desire. Poor Jack, I felt quite sorry for him at times when Katherine’s feelings for him waxed and waned. I look forward to reading more about Katherine Mansfield and satisfying my curiosity on this matter and shall probably move onto her letters and journals next. To be continued!
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.wordpress.com
This novel is set over a three year period during the First World War which led to her beloved brother Leslie being killed. It seems to have been a constant prey upon Katherine’s mind, especially after his death and some of the descriptions of the country at war by the author are fascinating. We also hear of Katherine’s struggles with writing, dreaming of being able to write something that would blow people away – “a new kind of fiction,” as she calls it. I also enjoyed the fact that we can see her story from other individual perspectives, even if everybody seemed to be madly in love with her, like her lover Murry and D.H. Lawrence’s long-suffering wife. From this novel, it came across as if Katherine got slightly bored with men once the initial romantic element had dissipated, and didn’t seem to know her hearts own desire. Poor Jack, I felt quite sorry for him at times when Katherine’s feelings for him waxed and waned. I look forward to reading more about Katherine Mansfield and satisfying my curiosity on this matter and shall probably move onto her letters and journals next. To be continued!
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.wordpress.com
April 1, 2020
I very much enjoyed this book. It is a book worth reading and I am interested in reading Mansfields works now, although I think I have read, 'In a German Pensione'. Anyway the Bloomsbury group she connected with, they are a fascinating, although self absorbed, fully flawed, quite unbearable in their own unique personalities in moments; aren't we all. Inwardly such a driven, tortured, creative bunch. Many were pacifists and lived with ostracism, beatings and social shunning. I mean I'm generalising here but it was an impression I took from the snippets of stories about them.
The period, gradually seeping from unrealistic, idealistic and innocently stereotypically thinking by the general populace about the beginnings of the war to the reflection in literary modes of the decline of innocence,the social change, the powerful and courageous criticism from various of these poets, painters and authors about the horrors, the reality on everyone everywhere of the first WW. The disillusion of people, the losses. A time affecting all our own parents and grandparents. To think Katherine Mansfield came from NZ, copiously articulated an amazing outer and inner life, was so accomplished, working alongside all the 'names', like Virginia Woolf, who according to the Biographer C.K. Stead was intimidated and influenced by her. Mansfield was not all that likeable in this account of her life, but redeemed herself, was ultimately another lost and wasted human life, dying so young with the possibilities of her future ended. I had never heard of Mansfield until the last couple of years. Why is this so ?!
The period, gradually seeping from unrealistic, idealistic and innocently stereotypically thinking by the general populace about the beginnings of the war to the reflection in literary modes of the decline of innocence,the social change, the powerful and courageous criticism from various of these poets, painters and authors about the horrors, the reality on everyone everywhere of the first WW. The disillusion of people, the losses. A time affecting all our own parents and grandparents. To think Katherine Mansfield came from NZ, copiously articulated an amazing outer and inner life, was so accomplished, working alongside all the 'names', like Virginia Woolf, who according to the Biographer C.K. Stead was intimidated and influenced by her. Mansfield was not all that likeable in this account of her life, but redeemed herself, was ultimately another lost and wasted human life, dying so young with the possibilities of her future ended. I had never heard of Mansfield until the last couple of years. Why is this so ?!
November 11, 2018
What an appropriate time to be reading this wonderful book. As Europe, America and former British colonies around the world pause for a moment today to remember the centenary of the end of the First World War, it was good to be reminded of not only the horrors of loss but also the impacts on everyday people.
C K Stead has created a fine novel from a sequence of events in the life of Katherine Mansfield, one of New Zealand’s most famous writers. He has taken a period of time during the First World War and used letters, diaries and many sources to create a fiction, but one that has a strong basis in truth. We cannot be sure that all the things recorded here actually took place, we certainly can’t claim all the feelings and thoughts mentioned were real, but the use of a fictional account allows Stead to stretch what we know and weave a fine story.
One of the remarkable things about this particular moment in time, is the vast array of famous names who came together, who knew each other and, since many were writers, they left memories and records in print. In the course of this short book we encounter T S Elliot, D H Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, Lytton Strachey, Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russel, Rupert Brook and Siegfried Sassoon. Together with a number of painters and artists they all had a loose association with the Bloomsbury Group, and Katherine Mansfield did the same, meeting so many of the famous names of the time.
The story covers primarily the years 1915 to 1917, with a brief epilogue that leaps to the winter of 1918. During that time Katherine lost her brother Leslie and her lover Fred to the war. We feel her losses and we watch her obsession with wanting to write at the same time as developing her relationship with Jack Middleton, whom she would eventually marry. It was a strange relationship to modern eyes, living apart, if only by a few streets, taking other lovers, and Katherine’s need to escape to live alone in France.
I always enjoy a novel where I know some of the locations, and it this book I can picture Acacia Road in St John’s Wood, London, where Jack and Katherine lived. I used to walk along that road to reach Primrose Hill. I also know Zennor in Cornwall, where they lived alongside D H Lawrence and his wife Frieda for a few months. The descriptions help me vividly recall the granite houses of Land’s End and the sudden fog that sweeps in from the sea.
Most poignant of all is the final epilogue, where Katherine coughs up blood for the first time, that bright red blood that tells you something is very wrong inside. It is the first evidence of the tuberculosis that will kill her at the young age of thirty-four. There is always something tragic and sad about someone who dies so young, but in this short book we also see some of the joy and the happiness of that short life.
C K Stead has created a fine novel from a sequence of events in the life of Katherine Mansfield, one of New Zealand’s most famous writers. He has taken a period of time during the First World War and used letters, diaries and many sources to create a fiction, but one that has a strong basis in truth. We cannot be sure that all the things recorded here actually took place, we certainly can’t claim all the feelings and thoughts mentioned were real, but the use of a fictional account allows Stead to stretch what we know and weave a fine story.
One of the remarkable things about this particular moment in time, is the vast array of famous names who came together, who knew each other and, since many were writers, they left memories and records in print. In the course of this short book we encounter T S Elliot, D H Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, Lytton Strachey, Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russel, Rupert Brook and Siegfried Sassoon. Together with a number of painters and artists they all had a loose association with the Bloomsbury Group, and Katherine Mansfield did the same, meeting so many of the famous names of the time.
The story covers primarily the years 1915 to 1917, with a brief epilogue that leaps to the winter of 1918. During that time Katherine lost her brother Leslie and her lover Fred to the war. We feel her losses and we watch her obsession with wanting to write at the same time as developing her relationship with Jack Middleton, whom she would eventually marry. It was a strange relationship to modern eyes, living apart, if only by a few streets, taking other lovers, and Katherine’s need to escape to live alone in France.
I always enjoy a novel where I know some of the locations, and it this book I can picture Acacia Road in St John’s Wood, London, where Jack and Katherine lived. I used to walk along that road to reach Primrose Hill. I also know Zennor in Cornwall, where they lived alongside D H Lawrence and his wife Frieda for a few months. The descriptions help me vividly recall the granite houses of Land’s End and the sudden fog that sweeps in from the sea.
Most poignant of all is the final epilogue, where Katherine coughs up blood for the first time, that bright red blood that tells you something is very wrong inside. It is the first evidence of the tuberculosis that will kill her at the young age of thirty-four. There is always something tragic and sad about someone who dies so young, but in this short book we also see some of the joy and the happiness of that short life.
July 15, 2024
Published in 2004, I have been in possession of this book through several house moves, being married and having children. Twenty years I’ve dragged this poor, unread book around with me.
Finally, I have read it.
My overall reaction to this fictionalised biography is that it’s about a dynamic and inventive writer, writing in a new way, told by a now retired university professor in a somewhat traditional style.
I appreciate the book for its celebration of Katherine Mansfield’s life and work. The inclusion of her famous peers and many friends. The writing of war and grinding destruction is possibly the best passages in the book.
However, I worry some of the depictions of female characters and their motivations are dated. D. H. Lawrence and his partner Frieda, arguing and fighting was jarring.
But, I overall enjoyed and thank my lucky stars this book has stayed with me - until I finished reading it.
I’m now motivated to dig out those (even older) Katherine Mansfield books I have now, and to watch a few of those films made about her life<\a>.
Finally, I have read it.
My overall reaction to this fictionalised biography is that it’s about a dynamic and inventive writer, writing in a new way, told by a now retired university professor in a somewhat traditional style.
I appreciate the book for its celebration of Katherine Mansfield’s life and work. The inclusion of her famous peers and many friends. The writing of war and grinding destruction is possibly the best passages in the book.
However, I worry some of the depictions of female characters and their motivations are dated. D. H. Lawrence and his partner Frieda, arguing and fighting was jarring.
But, I overall enjoyed and thank my lucky stars this book has stayed with me - until I finished reading it.
I’m now motivated to dig out those (even older) Katherine Mansfield books I have now, and to watch a few of those films made about her life<\a>.
February 16, 2025
In general I don't care for fictionalized biography, and this one definitely didn't make me change my mind. C. K. Stead concentrates arbitrarily on a few years in the life of Katherine Mansfield. We see her having an abortive affair with Francis Carco and falling in and out of love with her partner Middleton Murray. D. H. Lawrence is part of the supportive cast. There's so much material about the Bloomsbury principals and all the other luminaries around them that this entry really doesn't add anything to the corpus. Stead's Mansfield is a witty and bitchy woman whose greatest passion may have been for her brother who fell in WWI. Meh.
January 16, 2022
A very well written book with a fascinating central character and her equally fascinating friends. I kept pausing to check a true life story for one of the true life individuals that populate "novel" and now know so much more about the Bloomsbury set and its fringe. Recommended. (Purchased secondhand at Skoob Books in London, UK.)
October 7, 2018
This novel covers three years in the life of Katherine Mansfield, and is a fascinating account of this period of her life.
The First World War is a sombre backdrop, and her relationship with Jack Murry features strongly.
The First World War is a sombre backdrop, and her relationship with Jack Murry features strongly.
August 25, 2018
Ambitious to put oneself in the head of NZs most celebrated writer, but it's a convincing portrayal of what her life might have been like during the war.
September 8, 2024
3 stars: 2 for style (lovely), 1 for ignoring Mansfield’s romantic love for women.
July 16, 2025
How to be cunty: The Great War edition
December 7, 2025
A fabulous story of a remarkable woman.
Mansfield was a great insight into life in Europe during WW1, literary circles and the boldness of a girl from NZ.
Mansfield was a great insight into life in Europe during WW1, literary circles and the boldness of a girl from NZ.
January 10, 2016
From http://www.ladydisdainnotes.blogspot....
3.5 out of 5 stars
I have to say I absolutely loved this book. Almost everything about it appealed to me instantly – the writing, the setting, the characters. It has a blinding literary cast – T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, Bertrand Russell and several others.
How, I ask you, can you not drool?
As the title might suggest, this novel is about Katherine Mansfield, the New Zealand born writer who spent much of her time in England. She is a writer who is considered to have defined the modern short story. And, indeed, her stories are like nothing else.
However, this story is about the writer who created those stories. And any reader knows what it’s like to want more of a writer, to want all of them even. With this novel Stead manages to give Mansfield’s readers a little of that ‘more’.
The blurb reads: “Spanning three years in the life of the writer Katherine Mansfield during the First World War, this novel follows the ups and downs of her relationship with Jack Middleton Murry and her struggle to break through as a writer. As her brother and lovers are drawn into the conflict, Mansfield becomes more and more determined to write the ‘new kind of fiction’ which she feels the times demand.”
Stead focuses on the three years of Mansfield’s life in which her own writing was undergoing a transformation. I absolutely loved Stead’s writing style – it was so direct and concise, but managed easily and clearly weave the images in my head. The characters, too, just came to life on the page as I read. Maybe it’s the fact that they are actual literary figures, and I’d read so much about them beforehand that it was easy to see the form and shape they took in this novel. In any case, it was almost a thrilling experience. Maybe it’s the fan girl in me, but I was very excited to see those literary names appear as characters in this novel, and to see their temperaments and manners imprinted on the page.
Stead manages to capture Mansfield’s tone and language quite well. Mansfield is renowned for her cutting wit and sometimes cruel satire and there is evidence of that in this novel. The only thing I didn’t really like was that almost every male that she came into contact with wanted to jump into bed with her, or was attracted to her in some way. I think that’s why T.S. Eliot was my favorite out of the male characters portrayed here – he managed to maintain a cool, but friendly distance. (His gentle and patient disposition might also have had something to do with it.)
This is a novel that every KM fan should read – and it’s one they probably will want to read to, if they call themselves a KM fan. While it doesn’t really add to any knowledge of her life that has already been printed before, it does offer a tantalizing image into Mansfield’s everyday life, and more importantly – and more excitingly – into her mind. It’s always fun to ponder how one of your favorite authors lived and acted, what they thought and worried about; in that sense this novel is an indulgence that any Mansfield fan would be eager for.
3.5 out of 5 stars
I have to say I absolutely loved this book. Almost everything about it appealed to me instantly – the writing, the setting, the characters. It has a blinding literary cast – T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, Bertrand Russell and several others.
How, I ask you, can you not drool?
As the title might suggest, this novel is about Katherine Mansfield, the New Zealand born writer who spent much of her time in England. She is a writer who is considered to have defined the modern short story. And, indeed, her stories are like nothing else.
However, this story is about the writer who created those stories. And any reader knows what it’s like to want more of a writer, to want all of them even. With this novel Stead manages to give Mansfield’s readers a little of that ‘more’.
The blurb reads: “Spanning three years in the life of the writer Katherine Mansfield during the First World War, this novel follows the ups and downs of her relationship with Jack Middleton Murry and her struggle to break through as a writer. As her brother and lovers are drawn into the conflict, Mansfield becomes more and more determined to write the ‘new kind of fiction’ which she feels the times demand.”
Stead focuses on the three years of Mansfield’s life in which her own writing was undergoing a transformation. I absolutely loved Stead’s writing style – it was so direct and concise, but managed easily and clearly weave the images in my head. The characters, too, just came to life on the page as I read. Maybe it’s the fact that they are actual literary figures, and I’d read so much about them beforehand that it was easy to see the form and shape they took in this novel. In any case, it was almost a thrilling experience. Maybe it’s the fan girl in me, but I was very excited to see those literary names appear as characters in this novel, and to see their temperaments and manners imprinted on the page.
Stead manages to capture Mansfield’s tone and language quite well. Mansfield is renowned for her cutting wit and sometimes cruel satire and there is evidence of that in this novel. The only thing I didn’t really like was that almost every male that she came into contact with wanted to jump into bed with her, or was attracted to her in some way. I think that’s why T.S. Eliot was my favorite out of the male characters portrayed here – he managed to maintain a cool, but friendly distance. (His gentle and patient disposition might also have had something to do with it.)
This is a novel that every KM fan should read – and it’s one they probably will want to read to, if they call themselves a KM fan. While it doesn’t really add to any knowledge of her life that has already been printed before, it does offer a tantalizing image into Mansfield’s everyday life, and more importantly – and more excitingly – into her mind. It’s always fun to ponder how one of your favorite authors lived and acted, what they thought and worried about; in that sense this novel is an indulgence that any Mansfield fan would be eager for.
April 24, 2013
It took real stubbornness to get into the book. (stubbornness = "I have a lot of other books I'm behind reading on, this one is short, you get a full point for reading it on the 2013 challenge, how hard can it really be to read this short book??") The book was rather slow starting. However, I grew to enjoy it very much.
I liked the WWI perspectives (a thought occurred to me: how'd they keep the trenches from fully flooding?), the scenes in different places were very interesting (how could people so tight for money and so fatten very ill really move around as much as they obviously did?), and I definitely gave Wikipedia a workout on all the authors/persons mentioned, as well as bn.com more money ;)
For me, I think it was a good portrayal of how the days/times prob went for these people. It matched with other books I've read of the time. (Please note: I didn't do the main read of her notes and letters) I could see Stead's extensive study of Mansfield and the others in the Bloomsbury group. (This was during the time of the Bohemian. Compared to them, the modern kids seem a bit tame ;) )
Mansfield was definitely ahead of her time, in her writings. Not much is revealed here, except for some titles, but she worked at her writing; it did not come easily, and many times, it came at the expense of those who cared for her.
Now I need to read some of her work. ;)
I liked the WWI perspectives (a thought occurred to me: how'd they keep the trenches from fully flooding?), the scenes in different places were very interesting (how could people so tight for money and so fatten very ill really move around as much as they obviously did?), and I definitely gave Wikipedia a workout on all the authors/persons mentioned, as well as bn.com more money ;)
For me, I think it was a good portrayal of how the days/times prob went for these people. It matched with other books I've read of the time. (Please note: I didn't do the main read of her notes and letters) I could see Stead's extensive study of Mansfield and the others in the Bloomsbury group. (This was during the time of the Bohemian. Compared to them, the modern kids seem a bit tame ;) )
Mansfield was definitely ahead of her time, in her writings. Not much is revealed here, except for some titles, but she worked at her writing; it did not come easily, and many times, it came at the expense of those who cared for her.
Now I need to read some of her work. ;)
July 21, 2014
This book lifted my inspiration. Mansfield led such an eclectic life, sought adventure and rode the ups and downs in varying levels of success - but meeting them head on, not shying away.
And Stead did her grace and realism. You got the feeling that at times she must have been a pain in the arse to know - and at other time bundles of laughter. And as a storyteller herself I enjoyed reading about her in fiction - letting Stead's words and narrative create an impression of who she may have been - rather than deducing it from deeds and actions.
One thing I did feel is a tendency to name drop - the amount of famous faces with no chance to flesh them out in their mere walk on parts felt a little contrived - but maybe that is actually what Mansfield's life was like.
The narrative was very simply told and the reader largely left to themselves to set the scene (through the name dropping and the brief commentary on the war - which could possibly be difficult without enough prior knowledge to recognise the signposting) - this left me with a question of depth that I will need to sit on for a while. But I do think, and hope, I'll find depth hidden in the simplicity.
And Stead did her grace and realism. You got the feeling that at times she must have been a pain in the arse to know - and at other time bundles of laughter. And as a storyteller herself I enjoyed reading about her in fiction - letting Stead's words and narrative create an impression of who she may have been - rather than deducing it from deeds and actions.
One thing I did feel is a tendency to name drop - the amount of famous faces with no chance to flesh them out in their mere walk on parts felt a little contrived - but maybe that is actually what Mansfield's life was like.
The narrative was very simply told and the reader largely left to themselves to set the scene (through the name dropping and the brief commentary on the war - which could possibly be difficult without enough prior knowledge to recognise the signposting) - this left me with a question of depth that I will need to sit on for a while. But I do think, and hope, I'll find depth hidden in the simplicity.
February 21, 2014
Like a punt ride on a meandering stream, where upon rounding bends one is surprised by a garden, startled by the sudden flight of a kingfisher or brought joy by wayside flowers - as is Mr. Stead's tale of Katherine Mansfield. A quiet read; intimate, with insight to the creative soul, and, the life or writers of the early 1900's. Relationships are well explored whilst Mr. Stead gently delves into the pyshcology of the woman that died all too young. If only ...
September 20, 2014
Covering three years of Katherine Mansfield's life during wartime. Explores her relationship with fellow writer Jack Middleton Murray and their circle of friends including DH Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. London, south of France, Cornwall, the impact of war and personal struggle for success as a writer.
October 13, 2015
Not a perfect novel but very readable and witty. I think Stead is correct to focus on the war years and the death of her brother as a pivotal time, but I still feel there is something missing, like in many ways the novel just touches on the surface of things. It made me want to go back and read the stories.
January 10, 2013
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. C K Stead's great writing draws you into the life and character of this much written about authour seemlessly...totally absorping.
February 28, 2015
This is the second C.K Stead book I've read. Although the story itself didn't grip me as much as "My Name Was Judas" the actual writing was still a pleasure to read.
December 31, 2014
Would be good background reading for my year 12s too! Show them that I'm not making it up when I talk about her famous contemporaries!
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