Mr. Wu & Mrs. Stitch: The Letters of Evelyn Waugh & Diana Cooper

by Evelyn Waugh, Lady Diana Cooper, Artemis Cooper (editor)

Tells the story, via the letters that the two characters wrote to each other, of the relationship between Evelyn Waugh, author of "Brideshead Revisited", and Lady Diana Cooper, actress and hostess. The two endearments of Mr Wu and Mrs Stitch were used in the correspondence for over 30 years. His letters had originally thought to be lost until 20 years after his death in 1966 they surfaced in somewhat mysterious circumstances. When the correspondence opens he was 20 and she was not quite 40. He was restless and impatient. She was a daughter of the eight Duke of Rutland, an actress who married a rising politician, Duff Cooper. The editor of these letters is the granddaughter of Lady Diana Cooper and she argues that the correspondents demanded the best from each other and that neither were afraid of expressing their opinions and feelings. Other books by this writer include "Cairo in the War, 1939-45", "The Diana Cooper Scrapbook" and "A Durable The Letters of Duff and Diana Cooper".

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Literature

344 pages, Hardcover

First published October 17, 1991

About the author

Evelyn Waugh's father Arthur was a noted editor and publisher. His only sibling Alec also became a writer of note. In fact, his book “The Loom of Youth” (1917) a novel about his old boarding school Sherborne caused Evelyn to be expelled from there and placed at Lancing College. He said of his time there, “…the whole of English education when I was brought up was to produce prose writers; it was all we were taught, really.” He went on to Hertford College, Oxford, where he read History. When asked if he took up any sports there he quipped, “I drank for Hertford.”

In 1924 Waugh left Oxford without taking his degree. After inglorious stints as a school teacher (he was dismissed for trying to seduce a school matron and/or inebriation), an apprentice cabinet maker and journalist, he wrote and had published his first novel, “Decline and Fall” in 1928.

In 1928 he married Evelyn Gardiner. She proved unfaithful, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1930. Waugh would derive parts of “A Handful of Dust” from this unhappy time. His second marriage to Audrey Herbert lasted the rest of his life and begat seven children. It was during this time that he converted to Catholicism.

During the thirties Waugh produced one gem after another. From this decade come: “Vile Bodies” (1930), “Black Mischief” (1932), the incomparable “A Handful of Dust” (1934) and “Scoop” (1938). After the Second World War he published what is for many his masterpiece, “Brideshead Revisited,” in which his Catholicism took centre stage. “The Loved One” a scathing satire of the American death industry followed in 1947. After publishing his “Sword of Honour Trilogy” about his experiences in World War II - “Men at Arms” (1952), “Officers and Gentlemen” (1955), “Unconditional Surrender" (1961) - his career was seen to be on the wane. In fact, “Basil Seal Rides Again” (1963) - his last published novel - received little critical or commercial attention.

Evelyn Waugh, considered by many to be the greatest satirical novelist of his day, died on 10 April 1966 at the age of 62.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_W...

Reviews

[Annie Garvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was hard going. I kept forgetting who was who.

[False · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm fairly certain I've read this before. It was drudgery. The letters just weren't that good. A ton of footnotes regarding various personages. I had read the correspondence of Patrick Leigh Fermor and the Duchess of Devonshire (Deborah Mitford) and it made me long for such a friendship. I'll give Waugh one thing--he wasn't writing for posterity. Also, highly critical (perhaps with accuracy) about his children. Do people still have such friendships where they are covered in royal feathers and fame? It's hard to imagine. And no one writes anymore. This is definitely a dying form of book, given editing authors would have to work with emails....and who saves emails?

[Jaylia3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was first intrigued by Diana Cooper when I encountered her in the book about Britain in 1911--The Perfect Summer. These letters with Waugh are from a later period in her life.