Honor Tracy
Honor Tracy, born Honor Lilbush Wingfield Tracy in 1913 in Bury St. Edmunds, England, was a prominent journalist and novelist known for her satirical commentary on British-Irish relations. Educated privately in London and at the Sorbonne, Tracy emphasized her European heritage in her work. She contributed to major publications like The Observer, The Times, and the BBC, where she showcased her talent for travel writing and social commentary. Tracy's most celebrated novel, "The Straight and Narrow Path" (1956), is recognized for its humor and exploration of cultural absurdities between the Irish and English. Her novels often include whimsical plots and absurd characters, reflecting her keen observations of societal dynamics. Throughout her career, Tracy's works, such as "Men at Work" and "The Quiet End of Evening," continued to engage readers with their blend of wit and critical insight into cultural tensions. A beloved figure in literature, her books remain influential and have been translated into multiple languages, appealing to diverse audiences long after her death in 1989.
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Honor Tracy
- Born: October 19, 1913
- Birthplace: Bury St. Edmunds, East Anglia, England
- Died: June 13, 1989
- Place of death: Oxford, England
Biography
Honor Tracy was often referred to by her full name, Honor Lilbush Wingfield Tracy. The daughter of a Humphrey Wingfield, a surgeon, and Christabel May Clare Miller Tracy, she was born in Bury St. Edmunds, England, in 1913. Tracy was educated privately in London and later attended the Sorbonne, where she emphasized her European, rather than her English and Irish roots.
Tracy was first and foremost a journalist who distinguished herself as a travel writer and satirical commentator on British- Irish relations. As a correspondent, Tracy worked for both The Observer and The Times and also served as a roving correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Praised for her travel writing, Tracy also became known as a novelist, with what some critics claimed were uneven results. Humor and satire were her forte and she utilized both in numerous novels that examine the relationships between two faulted cultures, Irish and English. Her most famous work, The Straight and Narrow Path (1956), was hailed as an incredibly funny book and a classic comic novel. Tracy’s hallmark plot elements are bad Irish plumbing and the absurd figure who seems to make sense, but ultimately represents the ridiculous majority. Several of Tracy’s novels reprise this theme, alternately demonstrating the absurdity of the Irish and the English.
Some of Tracy’s later novels are set in foreign countries, such as Trinidad in A Number of Things and Spain in The Butterflies of the Province. A Season of Mists is set in England and reveals the comic world of her “safe and sane” Britain. With her 1963 novel The First Day of Friday, Tracy’s humor and sense of the absurd takes, it has been stated, a “(Jonathan) Swiftian turn” in which satire is razor sharp and the characters’ absurdities become deadly. Some critics maintain that the subtextual meaning of Tracy’s prose often suggests a satire of the tensions current in England at the time of her writing and that the inherent social commentary of her works transforms her comedy into wry despair. Men at Work (1966), however, presents a world where foolish people can still make sense. Denouement occurs coincidentally but with a pleasant twist that designates reality as benevolent, not malignant. Other works, such as The Beauty of the World (1967), also present an eminently sane world with logical problems and rational human beings.
Tracy lived periodically in various parts of Ireland for nearly ten years and her fascination with that country is fancifully and comically exhibited in her 1972 novel The Quiet End of Evening. Irish and English sensibilities are again satirized in the 1977 The Man from Next Door and Tracy’s targets include British snobbery, petty jealousy, and unscrupulous mercenary maneuvers. Her sure and steady comic touch is recognized by critics as one that “looks easy. . . (but) is devilishly difficult to do.” Tracy’s love for Ireland and things English made her a fitting commentator on both cultures’ ludicrous penchants and endearing idiosyncrasies. She died on June 13, 1989. Her books were translated into several languages and after her death continued to appeal to a diverse group of readers.