Dweller in Shadows: A Life of Ivor Gurney

by Kate Kennedy

Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) wrote some of the most anthologized poems of the First World War and composed some of the greatest works in the English song repertoire, such as "Sleep." Yet his life was shadowed by the trauma of the war and mental illness, and he spent his last fifteen years confined to a mental asylum. In Dweller in Shadows, Kate Kennedy presents the first comprehensive biography of this extraordinary and misunderstood artist.

A promising student at the Royal College of Music, Gurney enlisted as a private with the Gloucestershire regiment in 1915 and spent two years in the trenches of the Western Front. Wounded in the arm and subsequently gassed during the Battle of Passchendaele, Gurney was recovering in hospital when his first collection of poems, Severn and Somme, was published. Despite episodes of depression, he resumed his music studies after the war until he was committed to an asylum in 1922. At times believing he was Shakespeare and that the "machines under the floor" were torturing him, he nevertheless continued to write and compose, leaving behind a vast body of unpublished work when he died of tuberculosis. Drawing on extensive archival research and spanning literary criticism, history, psychiatry and musicology, this compelling narrative sets Gurney's life and work against the backdrop of the war and his institutionalisation, probing the links between madness, suffering and creativity.

Facing death in the trenches, Gurney hoped that history might not "forget me quite." This definitive account of his life and work helps ensure that he will indeed be remembered.

Genres: Poetry, Biography, History, Music

513 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2021

About the author

Kate Kennedy, a writer and broadcaster, is the Associate Director of the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing and a Research Fellow in Life-Writing at Wolfson College, University of Oxford.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this wonderful book immensely. Kate Kennedy walks the reader through the triumphs and tragedy that were Ivor Gurney. This creative son of Gloucestershire, composer, poet, and WWI participant, like John Clare before him, spent many years in mental asylums where he continued to produce outstanding and innovative work. Gurney, who died in detention, never found the fame, or received the accolades, that he deserved in his lifetime, and much of his work still remains unpublished. But this detailed, and sensitively crafted work, by an exceptional and knowledgeable writer, will bring Gurney, to the attention of new admirers.

[Sam Dye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptional book by an exceptional author. As I read the book I kept asking how could such an engaging account be written? I was struck by the depth and care for the subject that was demonstrated. She obviously understood her subject and had the skill to chronicle his life. When is someone intense and talented or "crazy"? She treats that question with skill and understanding.

[Paul Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across the poetry of Ivor Gurney a couple of years ago but knew very little about him other than he had spent the last 15 years of his life in an asylum after suffering shell shock in the First World War.

"Dweller in Shadows" is a brilliant biography of his life. As well as being an accomplished poet he was first and foremost a talented musician who studied at the Royal College of Music under Vaughan Williams, amongst others, and who could have become one of the great composers of the 20th century.

His experience of mental illness and the stigma which went with it at that time cheated him of the success he might have enjoyed although in more recent times he has enjoyed some greater recognition.

This is a first rate biography tackling with knowledge, skill and sympathy the details of his life, his relationships and offering some real insight into the quality of his artistic output.

This is a sad and moving story of man and artist who should be much better known. This is my best read of the year so far and is thoroughly recommended.

[David Windsor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished Dweller In Shadows by Kate Kennedy. Fascinating to read about Gumey's works, both poetical and musical, as well as his wartime experiences and his many years in an asylum. It was also good to learn about other composers, such as Herbert Howells and Francis Purcell Warren. The author seemed unsympathetic at times towards the composer's mother and Marion Scott - an important musician herself - and almost seems to resent Howells' relative success

[ROBERT · Rating 3 out of 5]

more than you ever wanted to know about Ivor Gurney. Learned that he was a composer in addition to being a poet.