Warwick’s review of His Devilish Art > Likes and Comments
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Why fiction? Why not non-fiction, particularly as there are no modern biographies?
A lot of people have asked me the same thing, J-M! The honest answer is it never occurred to me. I'm not really rigorous enough to be a historian, and, basically, I wanted to be able to make things up if I needed to. All of Fuseli's and Wollstonecraft's correspondence was burned by their executors for being too ‘amatory’, and so this book deliberately focuses on a specific period where we don't know exactly what happened – hence, lots of space to invent.
Warwick wrote: "A lot of people have asked me the same thing, J-M! The honest answer is it never occurred to me. I'm not really rigorous enough to be a historian, and, basically, I wanted to be able to make things..."
Makes perfect sense!
Just ordered a copy! Unfortunately it's shipping from Spain so I'll just have to find something else to do for the next few weeks. I'm always up for something that combines the premature launch of Impressionism with 18th-century lesbians -- but of course you knew that when you wrote it.
Bless you Justin! I'm still hoping to find a publisher on your side of the Atlantic at some point. Until then, in Correos we trust…
Congratulations, Warwick. I had followed some of your reviews of books about eighteenth century artists and guessed you were planning a project around one of them. Fuseli is a great choice—I studied his work in an art module at one point and some of his drawings and paintings still haunt me years later. I never heard much about his private life though so count me curious.
That last Fuseli quote sounds almost like his contemporary Blake.
And I came across that same Samuel Johnson quote recently in a David Markson book. Small world.
Thanks, Fionnuala. Yes, Fuseli was a big influence on Blake (and vice versa – Fuseli famously said Blake was ‘damn good to steal from!’). Blake also has a decisive part to play in the book, and he was a particularly fun one to write!
One minute you're a user, next an author.
This crept up on me, Warwick.
Well done.
BTW I fell onto this by looking at your review of 'Tender is the Night' ...
Cheers from CB
Yes, funny how that goes! Thanks Colin.
Congrats, Warwick! Your 'love-dodecahedron' review of Frankenstein is still one of my favorite reviews on the site, and I'm absolutely delighted you've written on the senior Wollstonecraft now.
Thanks, Amy! Mary junior does make a very brief appearance at the end of this.
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Jan-Maat
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May 18, 2025 04:43AM
Why fiction? Why not non-fiction, particularly as there are no modern biographies?
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A lot of people have asked me the same thing, J-M! The honest answer is it never occurred to me. I'm not really rigorous enough to be a historian, and, basically, I wanted to be able to make things up if I needed to. All of Fuseli's and Wollstonecraft's correspondence was burned by their executors for being too ‘amatory’, and so this book deliberately focuses on a specific period where we don't know exactly what happened – hence, lots of space to invent.
Warwick wrote: "A lot of people have asked me the same thing, J-M! The honest answer is it never occurred to me. I'm not really rigorous enough to be a historian, and, basically, I wanted to be able to make things..."Makes perfect sense!
Just ordered a copy! Unfortunately it's shipping from Spain so I'll just have to find something else to do for the next few weeks. I'm always up for something that combines the premature launch of Impressionism with 18th-century lesbians -- but of course you knew that when you wrote it.
Bless you Justin! I'm still hoping to find a publisher on your side of the Atlantic at some point. Until then, in Correos we trust…
Congratulations, Warwick. I had followed some of your reviews of books about eighteenth century artists and guessed you were planning a project around one of them. Fuseli is a great choice—I studied his work in an art module at one point and some of his drawings and paintings still haunt me years later. I never heard much about his private life though so count me curious.That last Fuseli quote sounds almost like his contemporary Blake.
And I came across that same Samuel Johnson quote recently in a David Markson book. Small world.
Thanks, Fionnuala. Yes, Fuseli was a big influence on Blake (and vice versa – Fuseli famously said Blake was ‘damn good to steal from!’). Blake also has a decisive part to play in the book, and he was a particularly fun one to write!
One minute you're a user, next an author.This crept up on me, Warwick.
Well done.
BTW I fell onto this by looking at your review of 'Tender is the Night' ...
Cheers from CB
Yes, funny how that goes! Thanks Colin.
Congrats, Warwick! Your 'love-dodecahedron' review of Frankenstein is still one of my favorite reviews on the site, and I'm absolutely delighted you've written on the senior Wollstonecraft now.
Thanks, Amy! Mary junior does make a very brief appearance at the end of this.
