Rumour of Heaven

by Beatrix Lehmann

Miranda Mirova is the finest dancer of her generation. Her husband, William Peacock, is a man of letters, and together they shine at the centre of cultured society, fedted in London and in all the capitals of Europe. Then Clare, the first of three children, is born, and Miranda never dances again. Assailed by fears and wild imaginings, she retreats from the world, taking refuge in the darkened rooms and shaded pathways of Prince's Acre where none but her family and the faithful Mrs Humble can see her transformation. But the legacy of isolation and vulnerability she leaves for her children is inescapable, and in this delicately wrought novel, first published in 1934, Beatrix Lehmann brings to light the heartache and the specialness of their strange inner world.

Genres: Fiction

279 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Beatrix Alice Lehmann was a British actress, theatre director and author.

She trained at the RADA and made her stage debut as Peggy in a 1924 production The Way of the World at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. As well as her extensive theatrical career she appeared in films and on television. She also wrote short stories and two novels including Rumour of Heaven, first published in 1934.

In 1946 Lehmann became director and producer of the Arts Council Midland Theatre Company.

In 1978 she gave a memorable performance in the Doctor Who serial The Stones of Blood as Professor Emilia Rumford. She also played Susan Calvin in two episodes of the British science fiction series Out of the Unknown. In 1979 she played Mrs Pleasant in a film version of The Cat and The Canary. Other roles include parts in Z-Cars, The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, War and Peace, Love for Lydia, Staircase, and Crime and Punishment.

She came from a family of notable achievers: the third of four children of author and publisher Rudolph Chambers Lehmann. Her great-uncle was Henri Lehmann the artist. Her brother was publisher John Lehmann and one of her two older sisters was the novelist . Beatrix never married, and died in Camden, London on 31 July 1979 aged 76.

Reviews

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just adored this. The writing style was so lush and beautiful. It was a book where everyone was depressed, where everyone was odd and had a hard time understanding other people at all. There were children who had a mother with mental illness who killed herself that were trying to cope with life. Men who had returned from the First World War, scarred and broken. All together in a tumbled down country setting, where things should have been beautiful but were just a mess and couldn't make the connections that were needed for anyone to heal. It had some of the most beautiful passages about depression and suicide that I've read in a long time.

I'm really glad I bought a lovely old copy of this and have managed to find the other book that Beatrix wrote. For a long time I just thought of her as "That actress who was playing the lesbian in Stones of Blood" but then I found out she really was a lesbian, had partied with Christopher Isherwood in Berlin in the 30s, and written two novels. She seems like a remarkable woman and I'm so glad I was able to get my hands on her books.

[Esther · Rating 2 out of 5]

I often pick up an unknown author upon finding a classic green Virgo imprint on a secondhand bookstore shelf. Led to some great discoveries over the years of women writers. This one, not so much. A strange tale which didn’t grab me.