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Old Wine
Dramatizing the international sweep of Phyllis Bottome's political ethics, feminism, and activism, Old Wine is as meaningful today as it was prescient at its publication in 1924.
Old Wine traces the demise of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the impact of modernity through an intricate network of political and sexual relationships among Viennese aristocrats, "new women," and Jews, all of whom suffer and survive their conflicts.
Old Wine traces the demise of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the impact of modernity through an intricate network of political and sexual relationships among Viennese aristocrats, "new women," and Jews, all of whom suffer and survive their conflicts.
374 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1944
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About the author
Phyllis Bottome
117 books8 followersBottome was born in 1882, in Rochester, Kent, the daughter of an American clergyman, Rev. William MacDonald Bottome, and an Englishwoman, Mary (Leatham) Bottome.[2]
In 1901, following the death of her sister Wilmott of the same disease, Bottome was diagnosed with tuberculosis.[3] She travelled to St Moritz in the hope that this would improve her health as mountain air was perceived as better for patients with tuberculosis.[3]
In 1917, in Paris, she married Alban Ernan Forbes Dennis, a British diplomat working firstly in Marseilles and then in Vienna as Passport Control Officer, a cover for his real role as MI6 Head of Station with responsibility for Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia.[4][5] They had met in 1904 at a villa in St Moritz, where Bottome was lodging.[6]
Bottome studied individual psychology under Alfred Adler while in Vienna.[7][5]
In 1924 she and her husband started a school in Kitzbühel in Austria. Based on the teaching of languages, the school was intended to be a community and an educational laboratory to determine how psychology and educational theory could cure the ills of nations. One of their more famous pupils was Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels. In 1960, Fleming wrote to Bottome, "My life with you both is one of my most cherished memories, and heaven knows where I should be today without Ernan."[8][page needed] It has been argued that Fleming took the idea of James Bond from the character Mark Chalmers in Bottome's spy novel The Lifeline.[9][10]
In 1935, her novel Private Worlds was made into a film of the same title. Set in a psychiatric clinic, Bottome's knowledge of individual psychology proved useful in creating a realistic scene. Bottome saw her share of trouble with Danger Signal, which the Hays Office forbade from becoming a Hollywood film. Germany became Bottome's home in the late 1930s,[7][page needed] and it inspired her novel The Mortal Storm, the film of which was the first to mention Hitler's name and be set in Nazi Germany. Bottome was an active anti-fascist.[11]
In total, four of her works—Private Worlds, The Mortal Storm, Danger Signal, and The Heart of a Child—were adapted to film.[12] In addition to fiction, she is also known as an Adlerian who wrote a biography of Alfred Adler.[13]
Bottome died in London on 22 August 1963. Forbes Dennis would die in July 1972 in Brighton.
There is a large collection of her literary papers and correspondence in the British Library acquired in 2000 (Add MSS 78832-78903).[14] A second tranche, consisting of correspondence and literary manuscripts, was acquired by the British Library in 2005.[15] The British Library also holds the Phyllis Bottome/Hodder-Salmon Papers consisting of correspondence, papers and press cuttings relating to Bottome.[16]
In 1901, following the death of her sister Wilmott of the same disease, Bottome was diagnosed with tuberculosis.[3] She travelled to St Moritz in the hope that this would improve her health as mountain air was perceived as better for patients with tuberculosis.[3]
In 1917, in Paris, she married Alban Ernan Forbes Dennis, a British diplomat working firstly in Marseilles and then in Vienna as Passport Control Officer, a cover for his real role as MI6 Head of Station with responsibility for Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia.[4][5] They had met in 1904 at a villa in St Moritz, where Bottome was lodging.[6]
Bottome studied individual psychology under Alfred Adler while in Vienna.[7][5]
In 1924 she and her husband started a school in Kitzbühel in Austria. Based on the teaching of languages, the school was intended to be a community and an educational laboratory to determine how psychology and educational theory could cure the ills of nations. One of their more famous pupils was Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels. In 1960, Fleming wrote to Bottome, "My life with you both is one of my most cherished memories, and heaven knows where I should be today without Ernan."[8][page needed] It has been argued that Fleming took the idea of James Bond from the character Mark Chalmers in Bottome's spy novel The Lifeline.[9][10]
In 1935, her novel Private Worlds was made into a film of the same title. Set in a psychiatric clinic, Bottome's knowledge of individual psychology proved useful in creating a realistic scene. Bottome saw her share of trouble with Danger Signal, which the Hays Office forbade from becoming a Hollywood film. Germany became Bottome's home in the late 1930s,[7][page needed] and it inspired her novel The Mortal Storm, the film of which was the first to mention Hitler's name and be set in Nazi Germany. Bottome was an active anti-fascist.[11]
In total, four of her works—Private Worlds, The Mortal Storm, Danger Signal, and The Heart of a Child—were adapted to film.[12] In addition to fiction, she is also known as an Adlerian who wrote a biography of Alfred Adler.[13]
Bottome died in London on 22 August 1963. Forbes Dennis would die in July 1972 in Brighton.
There is a large collection of her literary papers and correspondence in the British Library acquired in 2000 (Add MSS 78832-78903).[14] A second tranche, consisting of correspondence and literary manuscripts, was acquired by the British Library in 2005.[15] The British Library also holds the Phyllis Bottome/Hodder-Salmon Papers consisting of correspondence, papers and press cuttings relating to Bottome.[16]
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 17, 2023
Not so good as expected.
4* The Lifeline
4* Mademoiselle l'Anglais
3* Old Wine
TR The Crystal Heart
4* The Lifeline
4* Mademoiselle l'Anglais
3* Old Wine
TR The Crystal Heart
April 5, 2018
Think "House of Cards" within the aristocracy in Vienna, 1918 just after Austria's defeat in WWI. Chaos, runaway inflation, uncertain governance as rabble rousing workers and socialists challenge the old aristocracy whose power was once in their peasants, their magnificent estates, their cash, and their participation in the militarily supported monarchy.
The story centers on a social circle of close-knit cousins, Aryan/Magyar aristocrats, both men and women, who interact with formerly shunned, but moneyed Jewish commercial interests of Vienna, and with the Allied Relief Missions administering aid to the conquered Austrians.
Although family members and outsiders act as symbolic proxies for classes of people reacting in a time of changed circumstances they are psychologically well-detailed. and are interesting characters in their own right. In particular the women in this book are strong, spirited, intelligent, self-defining, and action-oriented, whatever their social class or background. This is a hallmark of Phyllis Bottome's novels, and I find it very refreshing.
A little difficult to navigate language-wise -- it was published in 1926 - Old Wine's denouement dragged, but overall the twists in this story make it a very engaging look at tumult of an aristocracy's anguish as WWI gave way to a new age.
The story centers on a social circle of close-knit cousins, Aryan/Magyar aristocrats, both men and women, who interact with formerly shunned, but moneyed Jewish commercial interests of Vienna, and with the Allied Relief Missions administering aid to the conquered Austrians.
Although family members and outsiders act as symbolic proxies for classes of people reacting in a time of changed circumstances they are psychologically well-detailed. and are interesting characters in their own right. In particular the women in this book are strong, spirited, intelligent, self-defining, and action-oriented, whatever their social class or background. This is a hallmark of Phyllis Bottome's novels, and I find it very refreshing.
A little difficult to navigate language-wise -- it was published in 1926 - Old Wine's denouement dragged, but overall the twists in this story make it a very engaging look at tumult of an aristocracy's anguish as WWI gave way to a new age.
August 18, 2025
Old Wine is a novel about the decline of the aristocracy and the rise of a new society and its focus on wealth and individuality in post WW1 Austria. It is a slow-moving work, but brilliantly analytical in observing the changes to society at this difficult time. The characters are fully developed, and some manage to overcome their past to become part of the challenging new world created by WW1's changes. Really nicely done.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews