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Appius and Virginia
Virginia Hutton embarks upon an experiment. She will take an ape and raise it as a human child… She purchases an infant orangutan and names him Appius. She clothes him, feeds him, and puts him to bed in a cot every night. As Appius grows older, she teaches him to dress himself, to speak, to read, to stand and walk up straight, to eat his meals at the dining table with a knife and fork. She teaches him how to be human. The young orangutan is not always a willing student. Their relationship becomes fraught and flits between that of mother and child, teacher and student, scientist and experiment. But as Appius gains knowledge he moves ever closer to the one discovery Virginia does not want him to that of his true origins.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1932
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279 people want to read
About the author
G.E. Trevelyan
8 books10 followersGertrude Eileen Trevelyan was an English novelist. She was born on 17 October 1903 in Bath, Somerset, England. She attended Princess Helena College, then located in Ealing, and was confirmed at St Peter's Church, Ealing in 1920. She attended Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford from 1923 to 1927, graduating with a second-class degree.
While at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, she won - as the first female winner - the Newdigate Prize for Poetry with her 250-line poem in blank verse titled, Julia, Daughter of Claudius. After leaving Oxford, she moved to London, where she first lived in a women's residence hotel in Bermondsey. She later lived as a lodger in several locations in Kensington.
Trevelyan wrote eight groundbreaking novels between 1932 and 1941, but her writing career was tragically cut short when her flat was hit by a German bomb during the Blitz. She died shortly afterward because of her injuries.
Trevelyan was largely forgotten after her death and for many years her work was out of print. However, in 2020, her debut novel Appius and Virginia was republished by Eye & Lightning Books, seeking to restore the Trevelyan to her rightful place in British literature.
While at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, she won - as the first female winner - the Newdigate Prize for Poetry with her 250-line poem in blank verse titled, Julia, Daughter of Claudius. After leaving Oxford, she moved to London, where she first lived in a women's residence hotel in Bermondsey. She later lived as a lodger in several locations in Kensington.
Trevelyan wrote eight groundbreaking novels between 1932 and 1941, but her writing career was tragically cut short when her flat was hit by a German bomb during the Blitz. She died shortly afterward because of her injuries.
Trevelyan was largely forgotten after her death and for many years her work was out of print. However, in 2020, her debut novel Appius and Virginia was republished by Eye & Lightning Books, seeking to restore the Trevelyan to her rightful place in British literature.
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March 10, 2021
A surprisingly-gripping, if disturbing, novel from the 1930s by unjustly forgotten novelist G. E. Trevelyan, a prolific writer whose career was cut short when she died as a result of wartime bombing raids. It’s not the overblown, dramatic tragedy of the Webster play it’s named after but in its own way quietly devastating. The central character Virginia’s lonely, a clergyman’s daughter with a dwindling income whose description suggests the spinster lit territory of the era from Orwell to Mayor and beyond, but there the resemblance ends for Virginia’s solution to her situation is a highly unusual one. Virginia decides that rather than slowly fade into the oblivion expected of women like her, she’ll make her mark on the world through an unorthodox ‘scientific’ experiment, she rents an isolated cottage and obtains an infant orangutan she dubs Appius, her plan to explore the relationship between nature, nurture and evolution by bringing him up as human. The narrative focuses in on the relationship between Virginia and Appius, Virginia’s approach shifts between that of would-be detached observer to someone whose thoughts are increasingly overtaken by fantasies of parenting Appius and finally being able to unveil her miracle child to an admiring world, but her devotion to realising these dreams begins to border on obsession and delusion.
One of the things, apart from the quality of the writing, that made the story particularly striking was Trevelyan’s representation of Appius, whose character quickly becomes the more prominent. Although Trevelyan lapses into anthropomorphism, her attempts to represent Appius’s bewilderment, his confused mental states really impressed me, as did her keen sense of many of the ethical issues surrounding this kind of animal experimentation, the cruelty inherent in rearing animals in isolation from their own species and natural habitats, a fascinating foreshadowing of the famous, disastrous real-life equivalent, Project Nim. Trevelyan’s approach seemed to me quite radical for her time particularly when compared to other work dealing with human-animal relations, Gerald Durrell’s for instance, especially how she takes animals’ ability to experience emotions for granted – an area of debate until fairly recently. Trevelyan's compelling and powerful novel raises a number of important questions not just about human dominance and arrogance but the limits of language and communication, the destructive impact of isolation and what it actually means to be a good parent.
One of the things, apart from the quality of the writing, that made the story particularly striking was Trevelyan’s representation of Appius, whose character quickly becomes the more prominent. Although Trevelyan lapses into anthropomorphism, her attempts to represent Appius’s bewilderment, his confused mental states really impressed me, as did her keen sense of many of the ethical issues surrounding this kind of animal experimentation, the cruelty inherent in rearing animals in isolation from their own species and natural habitats, a fascinating foreshadowing of the famous, disastrous real-life equivalent, Project Nim. Trevelyan’s approach seemed to me quite radical for her time particularly when compared to other work dealing with human-animal relations, Gerald Durrell’s for instance, especially how she takes animals’ ability to experience emotions for granted – an area of debate until fairly recently. Trevelyan's compelling and powerful novel raises a number of important questions not just about human dominance and arrogance but the limits of language and communication, the destructive impact of isolation and what it actually means to be a good parent.
dollars-for-unearthing
September 15, 2019UpDate ::
Neglect'd Books writes a wikipedia ::
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._E._T...
Sounds like some good stuff. I'm certain more than one of you will find something to delight in here.
_______
The Neglected Books Page reviews William's Wife, another novel by Trevelyan not in the gr=db ::
http://neglectedbooks.com/?p=6048
"When I set the book down, I felt as if all the air has been sucked from my lungs. William’s Wife is a chapter of the human comedy that would have made Balzac proud."
US$136.04+ shipping from uk
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...
____________
"I have to link to WorldCat.org for Theme with Variations because there are literally no copies of this book currently for sale. I’m afraid I bought the last one, and there appear to be only six library copies worldwide. And so it may be destined to remain utterly unknown and neglected, like virtually all of G.E. Trevelyan's work. But I won’t give up yet: look for posts on three more Trevelyan novels in the coming weeks." --The Neglected Books Page
https://neglectedbooks.com/?p=6050
Copies are in ::
Illinois
Pennsylvania
Scotland --- AHEM, MJ!
British Library
another Brit Lib
Oxford
Neglect'd Books writes a wikipedia ::
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._E._T...
Sounds like some good stuff. I'm certain more than one of you will find something to delight in here.
_______
The Neglected Books Page reviews William's Wife, another novel by Trevelyan not in the gr=db ::
http://neglectedbooks.com/?p=6048
"When I set the book down, I felt as if all the air has been sucked from my lungs. William’s Wife is a chapter of the human comedy that would have made Balzac proud."
US$136.04+ shipping from uk
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...
____________
"I have to link to WorldCat.org for Theme with Variations because there are literally no copies of this book currently for sale. I’m afraid I bought the last one, and there appear to be only six library copies worldwide. And so it may be destined to remain utterly unknown and neglected, like virtually all of G.E. Trevelyan's work. But I won’t give up yet: look for posts on three more Trevelyan novels in the coming weeks." --The Neglected Books Page
https://neglectedbooks.com/?p=6050
Copies are in ::
Illinois
Pennsylvania
Scotland --- AHEM, MJ!
British Library
another Brit Lib
Oxford
April 9, 2024
A heartbreaking book looking into the minds of two fascinating characters failing to understand each other and struggeling with their own self image.
November 24, 2020
As an experiment, Virginia Hutton buys an infant orang-utan and raises it as a human child. What could possibly go wrong?
This bold, brilliant – and still utterly shocking – book has been reissued for the first time since 1932. The author, G.E Trevelyan was celebrated as ground-breaking in her day, but tragically forgotten after she died young, of injuries sustained during the bombing of her flat during the Blitz.
Told movingly from the point of view of both Appius and Virginia, her debut is a novel of big ideas: nature vs nurture, evolution, a Frankenstein morality tale warning of the dangers of playing God. It is also a meditation on loneliness, frustrated maternal instinct and the death of professional ambition.
The sections told from Appius’s point of view are the most moving and affecting in the book. We sense the hopelessness of Virginia’s task, and the immense cruelty of depriving him of his natural habitat. At night he dreams of the comfort of a leafy nest.
But the Virginia sections are equally tragic. She is lonely, frustrated and utterly misguided. She daydreams about Appius going to university, and being introduced to his friends. She fails to understand him, and cannot see that he has not understood her. Never is her delusion clearer than when she attempts to train Appius’s sense of humour, using Punch cartoons.
As I read this, I kept thinking how this book must have spoken to women of the interwar years – those ‘surplus women’ who were denied marriage and family life because of the tragic loss of young men in the Great War. Also denied professional rewards, having been grudgingly admitted to universities – where they overcame protests from male students over their presence – but might still be prevented from taking actual degrees. (Cambridge University didn’t grant women degrees until 1947.) If they did marry, they were forced to give up their careers due to the ‘marriage bar’ still in place in many sectors until the 1960s. The frustration of these lives is laid bare in this book. “She knew obscurely, inarticulately, that if this experiment failed, her existence would no longer be justified in her own sight. The newly awakened need of her being to create would be frustrated utterly. She would sink back in the nothingness out of which this enthusiasm had raised her. She would go back to Earl’s Court and her bed-sitting-room – gas fire and griller, separate meters; to her consumption of novels from the lending library; her bus rides to the confectioner’s; her nightly sipping of conversation and coffee in the lounge: to middle-age in a ladies’ residential club. Each year a little older, a little stouter, or a little thinner, a little less quickly off the bus.”
Appius and Virginia remains stunningly original, 88 years after its debut, and re-establishes GE Trevelyan as an important writer, who should never be forgotten again.
This bold, brilliant – and still utterly shocking – book has been reissued for the first time since 1932. The author, G.E Trevelyan was celebrated as ground-breaking in her day, but tragically forgotten after she died young, of injuries sustained during the bombing of her flat during the Blitz.
Told movingly from the point of view of both Appius and Virginia, her debut is a novel of big ideas: nature vs nurture, evolution, a Frankenstein morality tale warning of the dangers of playing God. It is also a meditation on loneliness, frustrated maternal instinct and the death of professional ambition.
The sections told from Appius’s point of view are the most moving and affecting in the book. We sense the hopelessness of Virginia’s task, and the immense cruelty of depriving him of his natural habitat. At night he dreams of the comfort of a leafy nest.
But the Virginia sections are equally tragic. She is lonely, frustrated and utterly misguided. She daydreams about Appius going to university, and being introduced to his friends. She fails to understand him, and cannot see that he has not understood her. Never is her delusion clearer than when she attempts to train Appius’s sense of humour, using Punch cartoons.
As I read this, I kept thinking how this book must have spoken to women of the interwar years – those ‘surplus women’ who were denied marriage and family life because of the tragic loss of young men in the Great War. Also denied professional rewards, having been grudgingly admitted to universities – where they overcame protests from male students over their presence – but might still be prevented from taking actual degrees. (Cambridge University didn’t grant women degrees until 1947.) If they did marry, they were forced to give up their careers due to the ‘marriage bar’ still in place in many sectors until the 1960s. The frustration of these lives is laid bare in this book. “She knew obscurely, inarticulately, that if this experiment failed, her existence would no longer be justified in her own sight. The newly awakened need of her being to create would be frustrated utterly. She would sink back in the nothingness out of which this enthusiasm had raised her. She would go back to Earl’s Court and her bed-sitting-room – gas fire and griller, separate meters; to her consumption of novels from the lending library; her bus rides to the confectioner’s; her nightly sipping of conversation and coffee in the lounge: to middle-age in a ladies’ residential club. Each year a little older, a little stouter, or a little thinner, a little less quickly off the bus.”
Appius and Virginia remains stunningly original, 88 years after its debut, and re-establishes GE Trevelyan as an important writer, who should never be forgotten again.
June 18, 2024
¿Es posible manipular la naturaleza de un ser vivo y salir indemne? ¿Cuál es el precio de jugar a ser Dios?
𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘺 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 cuenta la historia de una socióloga entregada a la ciencia que decide poner en marcha un ambicioso experimento con el que pretende labrarse un nombre en la comunidad científica: educar a un orangután desde bebé como si fuese un niño. Para ello, se recluye en una remota casa de campo que prepara con esmero para la llegada del bebé.
A lo largo del relato, Virginia Hutton va compartiendo los avances de su investigación, con sus logros y decepciones. De su mano vemos crecer a Appius, un orangután encerrado en una jaula de oro que se ve totalmente privado de su naturaleza, condición e identidad. Firmemente convencida de la superioridad del ser humano, Virginia acaba de un plumazo con cualquier atisbo de instinto animal en Appius. O al menos, lo intenta. Desanimalización en estado puro.
Mientras leía, me he sentido incómoda, indignada y angustiada con el experimento. Y es que la autora ha sabido retratar de una forma magistral los procesos lógico-conceptuales de Appius. La forma en la que expone cómo el orangután, a pesar de las limitaciones propias de su biología, se esfuerza en asimilar los conceptos que Virginia trata de explicarle es simplemente brutal. Las grietas en la comunicación entre ambas especies, la suya y la nuestra, me ha llegado a provocar cierta sensación de angustia y claustrofobia.
El perfil de Virginia, una socióloga a la que no se le toma en serio y a la que se menosprecia por ser una solterona (como también le ocurrió a la propia autora en la vida real), también está perfectamente definido. Los conflictos internos provocados por la autoexclusión social y por la implicación emocional derivada del experimento hacen mella también en el lector.
Estamos ante una de las novelas que yo llamo «de resaca», porque tras su lectura sientes que tienes una batidora en la cabeza. Spoiler inocente: menudo final.
¿Dónde están los límites entre la moral y la ciencia? ¿Es lícito vulnerar los instintos más primarios de un ser vivo para demostrar que la evolución se puede acelerar? ¿Tenemos derecho a intentar moldear a nuestra imagen y semejanza a otro ser vivo solo porque tenemos la convicción de que nuestra naturaleza es mejor? ¿Es realmente mejor la vida que llevamos los seres humanos, con nuestros cerebros hiperestimulados, nuestras guerras, nuestra desigualdad en el reparto de recursos, nuestra contaminación? ¿Somos realmente mejores que un orangután o que una hormiga solo porque nuestro cerebro es distinto?
En definitiva, 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘺 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 es una novela perturbadora, con una redacción impecable y un estilo tan fresco que si no lo hubiera sabido de antemano, jamás habría dicho que fue escrita hace tantísimo tiempo. No puedo más que recomendarla.
𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘺 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 cuenta la historia de una socióloga entregada a la ciencia que decide poner en marcha un ambicioso experimento con el que pretende labrarse un nombre en la comunidad científica: educar a un orangután desde bebé como si fuese un niño. Para ello, se recluye en una remota casa de campo que prepara con esmero para la llegada del bebé.
A lo largo del relato, Virginia Hutton va compartiendo los avances de su investigación, con sus logros y decepciones. De su mano vemos crecer a Appius, un orangután encerrado en una jaula de oro que se ve totalmente privado de su naturaleza, condición e identidad. Firmemente convencida de la superioridad del ser humano, Virginia acaba de un plumazo con cualquier atisbo de instinto animal en Appius. O al menos, lo intenta. Desanimalización en estado puro.
Mientras leía, me he sentido incómoda, indignada y angustiada con el experimento. Y es que la autora ha sabido retratar de una forma magistral los procesos lógico-conceptuales de Appius. La forma en la que expone cómo el orangután, a pesar de las limitaciones propias de su biología, se esfuerza en asimilar los conceptos que Virginia trata de explicarle es simplemente brutal. Las grietas en la comunicación entre ambas especies, la suya y la nuestra, me ha llegado a provocar cierta sensación de angustia y claustrofobia.
El perfil de Virginia, una socióloga a la que no se le toma en serio y a la que se menosprecia por ser una solterona (como también le ocurrió a la propia autora en la vida real), también está perfectamente definido. Los conflictos internos provocados por la autoexclusión social y por la implicación emocional derivada del experimento hacen mella también en el lector.
Estamos ante una de las novelas que yo llamo «de resaca», porque tras su lectura sientes que tienes una batidora en la cabeza. Spoiler inocente: menudo final.
¿Dónde están los límites entre la moral y la ciencia? ¿Es lícito vulnerar los instintos más primarios de un ser vivo para demostrar que la evolución se puede acelerar? ¿Tenemos derecho a intentar moldear a nuestra imagen y semejanza a otro ser vivo solo porque tenemos la convicción de que nuestra naturaleza es mejor? ¿Es realmente mejor la vida que llevamos los seres humanos, con nuestros cerebros hiperestimulados, nuestras guerras, nuestra desigualdad en el reparto de recursos, nuestra contaminación? ¿Somos realmente mejores que un orangután o que una hormiga solo porque nuestro cerebro es distinto?
En definitiva, 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘺 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 es una novela perturbadora, con una redacción impecable y un estilo tan fresco que si no lo hubiera sabido de antemano, jamás habría dicho que fue escrita hace tantísimo tiempo. No puedo más que recomendarla.
December 19, 2020
Wow! Why has it taken so long for this story to be reissued?! I knew nothing of this author before the stunning cover drew me in, but now I'm just itching to read all that she wrote before her tragic death during the Blitz.
This is one of those quietly powerful books that really packs a punch - the simple story of nature v nurture and how loneliness affects people in different ways. In the case of Virginia, she is a middle aged woman who seems to yearn for some company, but spurns attempts from friends to connect. Her plan to not feel so lonely? Raise a baby ape as a child to see if he can be turned 'human' by just being around her and being treated like a real baby...... is it madness? or is it just a genuine attempt to search for answers in how surroundings affect an animal.
She dresses him as a baby, puts him in a cot, even teaches him to talk over the years and you can't help but be moved by her devotion to him. And what adds brilliantly to the story is that it features both their sides of the story and it is difficult not to feel sorry for both of them in different ways. Virginia seems driven by loneliness and needing a purpose in her life as she's too proud to reach out and ask for help from others. Whereas Appius is trying hard to please his 'mum' but animal instincts often take over and he's often scared and confused. There are many dark undertones throughout, but mixed in with the touching moments when you see the genuine bond they begin to build up.
As he grows up, his inquisitiveness takes over and he even gets to experience bullying from children in the village - just like a real boy. Seeing his experiences it hits a nerve with Virginia - has she done the right thing? She is plagued by those doubts of harming Appius with her experiment, but her need for companionship gets the better of that rational.
A stunning and bold book and one that kept me totally captivated and mesmerized.
This is one of those quietly powerful books that really packs a punch - the simple story of nature v nurture and how loneliness affects people in different ways. In the case of Virginia, she is a middle aged woman who seems to yearn for some company, but spurns attempts from friends to connect. Her plan to not feel so lonely? Raise a baby ape as a child to see if he can be turned 'human' by just being around her and being treated like a real baby...... is it madness? or is it just a genuine attempt to search for answers in how surroundings affect an animal.
She dresses him as a baby, puts him in a cot, even teaches him to talk over the years and you can't help but be moved by her devotion to him. And what adds brilliantly to the story is that it features both their sides of the story and it is difficult not to feel sorry for both of them in different ways. Virginia seems driven by loneliness and needing a purpose in her life as she's too proud to reach out and ask for help from others. Whereas Appius is trying hard to please his 'mum' but animal instincts often take over and he's often scared and confused. There are many dark undertones throughout, but mixed in with the touching moments when you see the genuine bond they begin to build up.
As he grows up, his inquisitiveness takes over and he even gets to experience bullying from children in the village - just like a real boy. Seeing his experiences it hits a nerve with Virginia - has she done the right thing? She is plagued by those doubts of harming Appius with her experiment, but her need for companionship gets the better of that rational.
A stunning and bold book and one that kept me totally captivated and mesmerized.
December 1, 2020
A wonderful, quirky little novel from sadly forgotten writer G.E. Trevelyan, ‘Appius and Virginia’ tells the story of one woman’s experiment in attempting to raise a young orangutan as her human child. The novel follows this experiment and the relationship between the two over more than a decade, and the obvious struggles that ensue. The story itself was reasonably simple, but wonderfully executed. There were no great twists, nothing too unexpected, but the ideas, characters and relationships explored beautifully come together to form such an excellent and unique novel.
The entire story relies upon the strength of Appius and Virginia both as individual characters, and more importantly the relationship between them. Appius’ character cleverly treads the fine line between poignant and natural, feeling realistic enough to be able to suspend disbelief throughout whilst being surprisingly touching and emotional. It would have been easy to really ham up the ape aspect to the point where it feels too silly, but Trevelyan manages to entirely avoid this while still retaining just the right measure of humour at the appropriate points of the story. This is balanced expertly against Virginia, such a believable woman of her age and the ways in which she reacts to, interprets and misinterprets Appius and his actions. Her own internal anxieties compounding with those from the task she’s set herself play off fascinatingly against each other. Their relationship becomes a perfect tragic portrait of one pitted against his nature and the guilt and pride of the one who pit him. This novel also touched on an unexpectedly large amount of themes for me. I knew that nature vs. nurture would be the main focus of the novel, the premise demands this, but I wasn’t expecting such interesting takes on things like evolution and religion, or the role of women in society. These themes come up naturally within the context of the story and are explored thoughtfully to their natural ends. The prose itself was easy and fluid and moved along at a good pace. Though a little clunky to begin with, I enjoyed the majority of it, even Appius’ kind of ape speak that became more prominent later in the novel as he grows up and begins to think and talk more. I actually think Trevelyan did a wonderful job of managing this to make sure it wasn’t tedious and actually came across convincing - Appius’ style of speech is obviously unconventional but isn’t nonsense, and is never without purpose; it clearly has it’s own rules it adheres to and sits perfectly within its own context a la ‘A Clockwork Orange’. This means the illusion is maintained, but it’s never frustrating attempting to unpick what Trevelyan is trying to tell us.
Now, I might be a little biased on this one - I, for some reason, can’t help but be a sucker for this very specific niche sub genre of apes-treated-as-people (see also my love of Peter Verhelst’s ‘The Man I Became’ and one of my favourite Warren Zevon tracks is and always has been ‘Gorilla, You’re a Desperado’) - but I really, really loved this novel. I was genuinely impressed by it’s construction, characters and story, and I’ve been thinking about it since I put it down. Both the serious examination of interesting themes and the lighthearted crack the novel still manages to take at these balanced perfectly to make a really well formed novel that made me laugh and made me think. I really hope this leads to more of Trevelyan’s works being published - I’ll certainly be buying them!
The entire story relies upon the strength of Appius and Virginia both as individual characters, and more importantly the relationship between them. Appius’ character cleverly treads the fine line between poignant and natural, feeling realistic enough to be able to suspend disbelief throughout whilst being surprisingly touching and emotional. It would have been easy to really ham up the ape aspect to the point where it feels too silly, but Trevelyan manages to entirely avoid this while still retaining just the right measure of humour at the appropriate points of the story. This is balanced expertly against Virginia, such a believable woman of her age and the ways in which she reacts to, interprets and misinterprets Appius and his actions. Her own internal anxieties compounding with those from the task she’s set herself play off fascinatingly against each other. Their relationship becomes a perfect tragic portrait of one pitted against his nature and the guilt and pride of the one who pit him. This novel also touched on an unexpectedly large amount of themes for me. I knew that nature vs. nurture would be the main focus of the novel, the premise demands this, but I wasn’t expecting such interesting takes on things like evolution and religion, or the role of women in society. These themes come up naturally within the context of the story and are explored thoughtfully to their natural ends. The prose itself was easy and fluid and moved along at a good pace. Though a little clunky to begin with, I enjoyed the majority of it, even Appius’ kind of ape speak that became more prominent later in the novel as he grows up and begins to think and talk more. I actually think Trevelyan did a wonderful job of managing this to make sure it wasn’t tedious and actually came across convincing - Appius’ style of speech is obviously unconventional but isn’t nonsense, and is never without purpose; it clearly has it’s own rules it adheres to and sits perfectly within its own context a la ‘A Clockwork Orange’. This means the illusion is maintained, but it’s never frustrating attempting to unpick what Trevelyan is trying to tell us.
Now, I might be a little biased on this one - I, for some reason, can’t help but be a sucker for this very specific niche sub genre of apes-treated-as-people (see also my love of Peter Verhelst’s ‘The Man I Became’ and one of my favourite Warren Zevon tracks is and always has been ‘Gorilla, You’re a Desperado’) - but I really, really loved this novel. I was genuinely impressed by it’s construction, characters and story, and I’ve been thinking about it since I put it down. Both the serious examination of interesting themes and the lighthearted crack the novel still manages to take at these balanced perfectly to make a really well formed novel that made me laugh and made me think. I really hope this leads to more of Trevelyan’s works being published - I’ll certainly be buying them!
January 19, 2023
Gertrude Trevelyan published eight novels before she died tragically young in 1941, from injuries incurred when her home was bombed in the Blitz. She fell into obscurity, but a few years ago her work was rediscovered by Brad Bigelow of the Neglected Books Page. This led eventually to her debut novel, 1932’s Appius and Virginia, being reissued. It’s the story of a woman who raises an orang-utan as a human child, and from that description, I was expecting to be rather whimsical. It really isn’t.
Virginia Hutton is on her own aged 40 and frustrated with life. She decides to conduct an experiment to see if an ape can be nurtured into humanity. This is her chance to leave a mark:
Virginia buys a young orang-utan, names him Appius, and retreats from London to the countryside to set about her task. It isn’t easy, because Appius experiences the world on a much more abstract level than Virginia, and often he doesn’t understand what she’s trying to tell him, or why she does what she does. But eventually, Appius gains skills such as rudimentary speech and the ability to read, and Virginia feels she’s making progress. Oh, what a future she imagines for Appius – and herself:
Key to Virginia’s approach, though, is keeping Appius unaware of his true animal nature. There are times when this breaks through despite her best efforts, and the whole reading experience becomes something much rawer, more elemental. The unbridgeable gap between Appius and Virginia becomes more apparent as the novel reaches a higher pitch – until the ending, which gives me chills just thinking back on it.
Virginia Hutton is on her own aged 40 and frustrated with life. She decides to conduct an experiment to see if an ape can be nurtured into humanity. This is her chance to leave a mark:
All her will power, all her suggestive force, her whole reserve of nervous and mental energy, was not too much to expend on this experiment. For If it succeeded she would indeed have achieved something. She would have created a human being out of purely animal material, have forced evolution to cover in a few years stages which unaided it would have taken aeons to pass...
Virginia buys a young orang-utan, names him Appius, and retreats from London to the countryside to set about her task. It isn’t easy, because Appius experiences the world on a much more abstract level than Virginia, and often he doesn’t understand what she’s trying to tell him, or why she does what she does. But eventually, Appius gains skills such as rudimentary speech and the ability to read, and Virginia feels she’s making progress. Oh, what a future she imagines for Appius – and herself:
She saw him, in Eton suit and shining collar, bowing over an armful of gilt and crimson tomes while the oak-panelled hall resounded with discrete, kid-gloved applause. She saw herself in the front row, surrounded by secretly envious parents and gratified masters, clapping shyly, blushing a little at this honour paid to her big boy, doing him credit by her clothes, her sleight figure, her youthful but not too girlish appearance.
Key to Virginia’s approach, though, is keeping Appius unaware of his true animal nature. There are times when this breaks through despite her best efforts, and the whole reading experience becomes something much rawer, more elemental. The unbridgeable gap between Appius and Virginia becomes more apparent as the novel reaches a higher pitch – until the ending, which gives me chills just thinking back on it.
Want to read
December 12, 2020Today I read about this book and its brilliant female author in this article by The Guardian, who was sadly forgotten after her tragic death following the bombing of her home in 1941 during the Blitz. I am very happy to hear that the book has finally been republished by Lightning Books. I am looking forward to reading it!
November 23, 2020
Well, this is a strange and interesting book. Briefly, the plot centers on a 40-year-old woman who lives alone in a nice home. To prove something about evolution, she adopts a baby male orangutan, which she names Appius, and raises it as her own son, hoping it will become educated and civilized.
The entire story takes places over a period of ten years or so. The writing is excellent throughout, and the author really gets into the thought processes of both protagonists. They develop a relationship of some nurturing and learning; and the orangutan learns to speak some words, to wear clothing, to do rudimentary reading. But the mother figure, Virginia, seems pretty starry-eyed and dreamy about the actual amount of progress.
When this was published in the early 1930s, we didn't have apes who had learned some sign language and other experiments. Perhaps at the time people were more hopeful of raising a primate baby to become a contributing member of human society at large? I don't know, honestly. From the early 21st century perspective, this seems (to me) like a fairly naïve expectation, and a possible calamity in the making.
Thanks largely to Brad Bigelow of the Neglected Books blog, this has been brought back into print after some 80 years. See here for some background material: https://neglectedbooks.com/?p=5804 The new edition also has an excellent introductory essay.
The entire story takes places over a period of ten years or so. The writing is excellent throughout, and the author really gets into the thought processes of both protagonists. They develop a relationship of some nurturing and learning; and the orangutan learns to speak some words, to wear clothing, to do rudimentary reading. But the mother figure, Virginia, seems pretty starry-eyed and dreamy about the actual amount of progress.
When this was published in the early 1930s, we didn't have apes who had learned some sign language and other experiments. Perhaps at the time people were more hopeful of raising a primate baby to become a contributing member of human society at large? I don't know, honestly. From the early 21st century perspective, this seems (to me) like a fairly naïve expectation, and a possible calamity in the making.
Thanks largely to Brad Bigelow of the Neglected Books blog, this has been brought back into print after some 80 years. See here for some background material: https://neglectedbooks.com/?p=5804 The new edition also has an excellent introductory essay.
January 9, 2021
Appius and Virginia is a small book that packs a mighty punch and is guaranteed to fuel discussion in any book group.
Middle-aged Virginia is all alone in the world when she decides to embark on a secret experiment to prove once and for all that nurture can overcome nature. She adopts a baby orangutan, Appius, and begins the painstaking process of teaching him to be human. She tucks him into his cot each night, makes him sit up straight in his chair, she teaches him to use cutlery, to play, to read - she even teaches him to speak. She dresses him in clothes, encourages him to walk upright, and all the while she tells him he is a boy destined for greatness. Appius wants to believe it as much as she herself does.
But as the years pass, alone and isolated, without support or even a confidante, and with only the on-times rebellious orangutan for company, Virginia’s experiment soon ceases to be a detached scientific study and becomes instead an exhausting and unrelenting immersion into motherhood. As her responses to the growing orangutan become more maternal, emotional and intense, she begins to loose her grip on reality, and her hopes for Appius’ future become fired by delusion. Meanwhile, Appius is struggling to understand his own identity and purpose within the strange, cut-off existence Virginia has created for him. He becomes perturbed by deep dreams - instincts - that he is unable to ignore and is increasingly unable to resist. It gradually becomes apparent that this ill-fated experiment has removed them both from their natural environments - with tragic consequences.
Appius and Virginia is an imaginative, poignant and thought-provoking read. Her age (tied in with the date of publication) would possibly make Virginia one of the so-called ‘surplus women’ left by the Great War, and I found myself wondering what sadness lay in her past, off the page, that had led to the desperate situation unfolding upon it.
Middle-aged Virginia is all alone in the world when she decides to embark on a secret experiment to prove once and for all that nurture can overcome nature. She adopts a baby orangutan, Appius, and begins the painstaking process of teaching him to be human. She tucks him into his cot each night, makes him sit up straight in his chair, she teaches him to use cutlery, to play, to read - she even teaches him to speak. She dresses him in clothes, encourages him to walk upright, and all the while she tells him he is a boy destined for greatness. Appius wants to believe it as much as she herself does.
But as the years pass, alone and isolated, without support or even a confidante, and with only the on-times rebellious orangutan for company, Virginia’s experiment soon ceases to be a detached scientific study and becomes instead an exhausting and unrelenting immersion into motherhood. As her responses to the growing orangutan become more maternal, emotional and intense, she begins to loose her grip on reality, and her hopes for Appius’ future become fired by delusion. Meanwhile, Appius is struggling to understand his own identity and purpose within the strange, cut-off existence Virginia has created for him. He becomes perturbed by deep dreams - instincts - that he is unable to ignore and is increasingly unable to resist. It gradually becomes apparent that this ill-fated experiment has removed them both from their natural environments - with tragic consequences.
Appius and Virginia is an imaginative, poignant and thought-provoking read. Her age (tied in with the date of publication) would possibly make Virginia one of the so-called ‘surplus women’ left by the Great War, and I found myself wondering what sadness lay in her past, off the page, that had led to the desperate situation unfolding upon it.
January 15, 2021
I read in the introduction that they compared the book to Virginia Woolf's style and I definitely do not agree with that at all. Though I think it was unique in style, in some ways quite ahead of its time especially for its descriptions of bodily functions, the way it switched between the consciousness of Appius and Virginia, and the way it gave so much attention evolution and secularism. That being said, I also think it some ways it was incredibly problematic. We now know that gorillas like Koko or Bonobo's who are being 'raised' by humans DO feel complicated emotions like sadness, guilt, empathy, and love... I think to show Appius as only capable of experiencing rage and blind anger without ever showing affection or love for the only other being around him in his entire life is a bit strange. Also, for him not to have a sense of humour at all is bogus. Yet he is capable of comprehending ontological theory, memorize history and even verbally speak in quite complicated sentences. But not to be pedantic about what Appius would or would not have been able to have achieved, I think if the book was meant to be a reflection of the ills of colonialism and racism, as I think it was - then to create Appius as completely unable to experience warmth, love, care, and compassion is a bit wrong-footed. I can understand why G.E. Trevelyan wouldn't have wanted him to feel love for his captor but Appius didn't ever get to show love for anything else - his primary impetus seemed to be around the desire to kill and destroy. The work is a great portrait of loneliness, isolation and madness, but I think as a dialogue on race or colonial relations it's lacking.
December 3, 2025
“Önünde bunca zaman varken her şeyi yapabilir, her şey olabilir. Ancak öncelikle bir insan olmalı.”
Bu yıl içine daldığım kurgular arasında en çok etkilendimlerimden biri oldu adını Webster’ın bir trajedisinden alan “Appius and Virginia”.
Virginia Hutton geçmişini bilmediğimiz bir bilim insanı, bir bebek orangutan edinip onu insan gibi yetiştirme deneyine girişiyor. Taşradaki malikanesine kapanıyor, küskün olduğu akademik çevrelerle bağını koparıyor. Minik orangutan Appius’a çocuk odası hazırlıyor, kitaplar satın alıyor. Tüm bunları yaparken tuhaftır hayvanın kendi türüne, ormanın bilgeliğine, insanın mazhar olamadığı alanlara dair bilincine de girmek istiyor. Bir çeşit Frankenstein öyküsü anlayacağınız, insanın tekrar tekrar yaratıcıyı oynadığı.
Romanın en etkileyici kısmı benim için yazarın orangutanın kelimesiz dünyasını, insan dünyası için karmaşık zihnini hayal ettiği kısımlar oldu. Orangutan insanlığı “anne”sinden öğrenip doğasından uzaklığın getirdiği şaşkınlığı attıkça zihninde de olsa etrafındakiler üzerinde otorite kullanmaya başlıyor. Bunun gibi incelikle işlenmiş nice alt temaya yer verilmiş metinde. Trevelyan’ın 1920’ler için bu kadar öncü bir konuyu seçmiş olmasına şapka çıkartmamak elde değil. Malum o dönemde Gerard Durrell vahşi hayvanlarına bugün hiç de makbul olmayan sevgisini sempatik üslubuyla anlatıyordu.
Sadece insan tahakkümü ve kibrine değil, dil ile iletişimin sınırlarına, yalnızlığın yıkıcı etkisine ve gerçek anlamda “iyi ebeveyn” olmanın ne demek olduğuna dair pek çok soru sorduran bir roman Appius and Virginia. Katmanlarının arasında bastırılmış annelik içgüdüsü hakkında da okurunu düşündürecektir.
Bu yıl içine daldığım kurgular arasında en çok etkilendimlerimden biri oldu adını Webster’ın bir trajedisinden alan “Appius and Virginia”.
Virginia Hutton geçmişini bilmediğimiz bir bilim insanı, bir bebek orangutan edinip onu insan gibi yetiştirme deneyine girişiyor. Taşradaki malikanesine kapanıyor, küskün olduğu akademik çevrelerle bağını koparıyor. Minik orangutan Appius’a çocuk odası hazırlıyor, kitaplar satın alıyor. Tüm bunları yaparken tuhaftır hayvanın kendi türüne, ormanın bilgeliğine, insanın mazhar olamadığı alanlara dair bilincine de girmek istiyor. Bir çeşit Frankenstein öyküsü anlayacağınız, insanın tekrar tekrar yaratıcıyı oynadığı.
Romanın en etkileyici kısmı benim için yazarın orangutanın kelimesiz dünyasını, insan dünyası için karmaşık zihnini hayal ettiği kısımlar oldu. Orangutan insanlığı “anne”sinden öğrenip doğasından uzaklığın getirdiği şaşkınlığı attıkça zihninde de olsa etrafındakiler üzerinde otorite kullanmaya başlıyor. Bunun gibi incelikle işlenmiş nice alt temaya yer verilmiş metinde. Trevelyan’ın 1920’ler için bu kadar öncü bir konuyu seçmiş olmasına şapka çıkartmamak elde değil. Malum o dönemde Gerard Durrell vahşi hayvanlarına bugün hiç de makbul olmayan sevgisini sempatik üslubuyla anlatıyordu.
Sadece insan tahakkümü ve kibrine değil, dil ile iletişimin sınırlarına, yalnızlığın yıkıcı etkisine ve gerçek anlamda “iyi ebeveyn” olmanın ne demek olduğuna dair pek çok soru sorduran bir roman Appius and Virginia. Katmanlarının arasında bastırılmış annelik içgüdüsü hakkında da okurunu düşündürecektir.
April 15, 2023
This is an unjustly forgotten book, first published in 1932, by an up-and-coming writer named Gertrude Trevelyan (1903-1941). It is about a 40 year-old, unmarried woman named Virginia, invisible to those around her, who craves recognition and love. She decides to raise an infant orangutan as a human child as a scientific experiment, convinced that the ape would flourish under her care.
We learn as the years pass that Virginia is a deeply lonely character, who becomes increasingly obsessed with Appius and her 'experiment'. Her character is finely drawn and the reader wavers between sadness at her self-delusions and anger at her egotistical, doomed effort to humanize Appius. As the book progresses Appius becomes the main character and the author's descriptions of his inner life and perceptions is astonishing. I have never read more insightful depictions of non-human sentience before. The very skillful writing about Appius's and Virginia's wildly different perceptions almost each other and about situations create a disturbing, continuous undercurrent of dread. Something bad is clearly about to happen.
This book is not a twist on the Planets of the Apes-type trope, but a study in loneliness and miscommunication. Is it science fiction? I would argue yes, because I like science fiction and I liked this novel. It makes you think.
G.E. Trevelyan wrote seven more novels before she died as a consequence of the German bombing of London. She was an innovator, tackling ideas and styles in very daring and different ways, and was seen as a rising literary star by British critics. Both the blog The Neglected Books Page (www.neglectedbooks.com) and the publishers at Abandoned Bookshop (www.abandonedbookshop.com) have done readers a service by reprinting this classic.
We learn as the years pass that Virginia is a deeply lonely character, who becomes increasingly obsessed with Appius and her 'experiment'. Her character is finely drawn and the reader wavers between sadness at her self-delusions and anger at her egotistical, doomed effort to humanize Appius. As the book progresses Appius becomes the main character and the author's descriptions of his inner life and perceptions is astonishing. I have never read more insightful depictions of non-human sentience before. The very skillful writing about Appius's and Virginia's wildly different perceptions almost each other and about situations create a disturbing, continuous undercurrent of dread. Something bad is clearly about to happen.
This book is not a twist on the Planets of the Apes-type trope, but a study in loneliness and miscommunication. Is it science fiction? I would argue yes, because I like science fiction and I liked this novel. It makes you think.
G.E. Trevelyan wrote seven more novels before she died as a consequence of the German bombing of London. She was an innovator, tackling ideas and styles in very daring and different ways, and was seen as a rising literary star by British critics. Both the blog The Neglected Books Page (www.neglectedbooks.com) and the publishers at Abandoned Bookshop (www.abandonedbookshop.com) have done readers a service by reprinting this classic.
March 22, 2023
A bold and daring novel that explores the long-lasting consequences of one's loneliness and lack of belonging on another's hesitant and misguided sense of identity. The contradictions between the daily intimacy and codependency of the two characters and the abyss of misunderstanding that seems to discard any possibility of meaningful compassion is staggering. While the setting may feel gimmicky at first - a secluded woman secretly raising an ape under the guise of a scientific experiment - it quickly turns out to be an exemplary choice that allows a deep exploration of humanity from two radically opposed perspectives. A rare achievement.
August 2, 2022
Hovered between 3 and 4 stars. This is a book that grows on you - appears simple but has increasing depth. I read it in one (aircraft) sitting. It's a disturbing read - nature vs nurture, human vs animal - and astonishing to consider it was written in 1932.
March 19, 2021
Loneliness always has a tragic end, doesn't it.
Read
December 27, 2021LL
January 7, 2023
Upon reflection I changed my rating from 3 to 4 stars. Because this little book definitely made me go, “what the heck did I just read?” And that is a good thing. Is a story about a woman named Virgin(ia) raising an orangutan as her son supposed to be some kind of Christian allegory? Is it a Frankenstein kind of thing about the hubris of a human playing God? Is it about the dangers of spinsterhood when combined with a little bit of education? I don’t know, but it’s surprisingly suspenseful and definitely disturbing. A new wrinkle to the Monstrous Child sub genre.
February 5, 2021
The story of Appius and Virginia is as interesting as the story in Appius and Virginia.
It was the first novel by GE Trevelyan, already an award-winning writer, and was published in 1932 to (mostly) stunning reviews. It’s about a woman who buys a baby orangutan with the intention of raising him as a human. Living in seclusion, Virginia teaches him over the years how to read and how to speak, albeit basically.
Gertrude Trevelyan went on to write seven more books, but in October 1940 she was injured in a German bombing raid, eventually dying four months later. She was described in her death certificate as “Spinster – an authoress”.
After her death her novels fell out of print and were sadly forgotten. Until now, that is. Appius and Virginia is once again in print thanks to the Abandoned Bookshop, a publisher that states its “mission is to track down forgotten books of the past and re-publish them for a modern audience.”
And thank goodness they did.
Appius and Virginia is for the most part a study of loneliness. Virginia, 40 years-old and unattached, at first sees raising the baby ape as nothing more than a project. An experiment for which she will one day be lauded. But as time goes on, and as her friends drift further into the past, she comes to see him as her very own child and dreams of him one day going to university and achieving great things.
However, that is not how Appius sees things. A chasm exists between how both characters perceive each other and the world. It’s a compelling, original and tragic story and Trevelyan digs deep into the psyches of both Virginia and Appius. I finished reading this book in the hope that others by GE Trevelyan will also be resurrected. Thank you, Abandoned Bookshop.
It was the first novel by GE Trevelyan, already an award-winning writer, and was published in 1932 to (mostly) stunning reviews. It’s about a woman who buys a baby orangutan with the intention of raising him as a human. Living in seclusion, Virginia teaches him over the years how to read and how to speak, albeit basically.
Gertrude Trevelyan went on to write seven more books, but in October 1940 she was injured in a German bombing raid, eventually dying four months later. She was described in her death certificate as “Spinster – an authoress”.
After her death her novels fell out of print and were sadly forgotten. Until now, that is. Appius and Virginia is once again in print thanks to the Abandoned Bookshop, a publisher that states its “mission is to track down forgotten books of the past and re-publish them for a modern audience.”
And thank goodness they did.
Appius and Virginia is for the most part a study of loneliness. Virginia, 40 years-old and unattached, at first sees raising the baby ape as nothing more than a project. An experiment for which she will one day be lauded. But as time goes on, and as her friends drift further into the past, she comes to see him as her very own child and dreams of him one day going to university and achieving great things.
However, that is not how Appius sees things. A chasm exists between how both characters perceive each other and the world. It’s a compelling, original and tragic story and Trevelyan digs deep into the psyches of both Virginia and Appius. I finished reading this book in the hope that others by GE Trevelyan will also be resurrected. Thank you, Abandoned Bookshop.
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