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Mrs. Ewing, Mrs. Molesworth, and Mrs. Hodgson Burnett
121 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1977
About the author
Marghanita Laski
39 books71 followersEnglish journalist, radio panelist, and novelist: she also wrote literary biography, plays, and short stories.
Laski was born to a prominent family of Jewish intellectuals: Neville Laski was her father, Moses Gaster her grandfather, and socialist thinker Harold Laski her uncle. She was educated at Lady Barn House School and St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith. After a stint in fashion, she read English at Oxford, then married publisher John Howard, and worked in journalism. She began writing once her son and daughter were born.
A well-known critic as well as a novelist, she wrote books on Jane Austen and George Eliot. Ecstasy (1962) explored intense experiences, and Everyday Ecstasy (1974) their social effects. Her distinctive voice was often heard on the radio on The Brains Trust and The Critics; and she submitted a large number of illustrative quotations to the Oxford English Dictionary.
An avowed atheist, she was also a keen supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Her play, The Offshore Island, is about nuclear warfare.
Laski was born to a prominent family of Jewish intellectuals: Neville Laski was her father, Moses Gaster her grandfather, and socialist thinker Harold Laski her uncle. She was educated at Lady Barn House School and St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith. After a stint in fashion, she read English at Oxford, then married publisher John Howard, and worked in journalism. She began writing once her son and daughter were born.
A well-known critic as well as a novelist, she wrote books on Jane Austen and George Eliot. Ecstasy (1962) explored intense experiences, and Everyday Ecstasy (1974) their social effects. Her distinctive voice was often heard on the radio on The Brains Trust and The Critics; and she submitted a large number of illustrative quotations to the Oxford English Dictionary.
An avowed atheist, she was also a keen supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Her play, The Offshore Island, is about nuclear warfare.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 26, 2010
Checked out because it's written by Laski (a favorite Persephone author) and includes some tidbits about Frances Hodgson Burnett.
I only read the intro, conclusion and section on Burnett as I had no interest in the other two women.
Written in 1950, Laski is looking back at the golden age of children's literature. A few interesting conclusions, but I was hoping for a bit more biography and less critical analysis. Or perhaps some more linking between the three authors in the analysis.
Not bad, but not great.
I only read the intro, conclusion and section on Burnett as I had no interest in the other two women.
Written in 1950, Laski is looking back at the golden age of children's literature. A few interesting conclusions, but I was hoping for a bit more biography and less critical analysis. Or perhaps some more linking between the three authors in the analysis.
Not bad, but not great.
Displaying 1 of 1 review