Rosamond Lehmann
Rosamond Lehmann was a notable British author known for her precise style and keen observational skills. Born into a literary family in 1901, she was the daughter of a liberal politician and a mother with notable ancestry. Lehmann gained prominence with her debut novel, *Dusty Answer*, at the age of twenty-six, which is characterized by its exploration of adolescence and frank discussions of sexual attitudes. Her subsequent works, including *A Note in Music*, which addressed lesbian relationships, and *Invitation to the Waltz*, reflect her innovative narrative style and focus on the complexities of female experience.
Lehmann's novels often delve into themes of love, youth, and the nuances of personal relationships, with her characters frequently navigating societal expectations and personal desires. *The Weather in the Streets*, a sequel to *Invitation to the Waltz*, addresses topics like divorce and abortion, which were considered bold for the time. Beyond fiction, she published an autobiographical work reflecting on personal loss and served in various literary organizations. Lehmann's legacy lies in her significant contributions to British literature, particularly in her exploration of women’s inner lives and the realistic portrayal of emotional experiences. She passed away in 1990 at the age of eighty-nine, leaving behind a rich literary heritage.
Rosamond Lehmann
English novelist.
- Born: February 3, 1901
- Birthplace: Bourne End, England
- Died: March 12, 1990
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Rosamond Nina Lehmann was a consummate stylist and a careful observer whose attention to detail has secured her place in British letters. Born into a literary family, Lehmann was the second daughter of Rudolph Chambers and Alice Davis Lehmann. Her father was a liberal member of Parliament who frequently wrote for Punch. Her mother was a descendant of John Wentworth, an early lieutenant governor of New Hampshire. Lehmann’s sister, Beatrix, became a highly regarded actress. Her brother, John, four years her junior, was a poet and, after 1938, a partner in the Hogarth Press, established by Leonard and Virginia Woolf, who were close friends of the Lehmann family. Lehmann’s early marriage to Leslie Runciman ended in divorce shortly after she completed her first novel. In 1928 she married Wogan Philipps, later Lord Milford, father of her two children. Lehmann’s marriage to Wogan Philipps ended in divorce in 1942.
Lehmann became famous after the publication of her first novel, Dusty Answer, at the age of twenty-six. To many of her contemporaries in the 1920s, she was part of a vanguard, including Virginia Woolf and James Joyce, who chose female characters as the voices of a new fictional style called "stream of consciousness." This novel, remotely autobiographical, explores the special consciousness of adolescence as the protagonist grows into early adulthood; the book is distinguished in part by its frankness with regard to sexual attitudes. Her second novel, A Note in Music, overtly depicting lesbian relationships, is one of the first modern novels to address the theme of homosexuality directly, and its publication in 1930 caused considerable consternation in Great Britain.
Invitation to the Waltz is a sensitive book about a seventeen-year-old girl, Olivia Curtis, who is living through the trauma of her first dance, which becomes something of a rite of passage. The Weather in the Streets is a sequel to Invitation to the Waltz; in this novel, Olivia marries, has an adulterous love affair, divorces, and is forced into having an abortion. These topics, easily accepted in later literature, seemed extremely daring to British readers in the mid-1930s.
Two additional Lehmann novels, The Ballad and the Source and A Sea-Grape Tree, share a single set of characters. The first of these is generally considered Lehmann’s finest book. It succeeds in the difficult task of presenting its story through the eyes of ten-year-old Rebecca Landon, maintaining consistently the child’s point of view. Between these two books came The Echoing Grove, a novel that presents the difficulties two sisters face when one sister has an affair with the other’s husband. Lehmann’s only collection of short stories was The Gipsy’s Baby, and Other Short Stories. Its title story is particularly impressive for its controlled depiction of the female characters. The other stories show Lehmann at various stages of her literary development.
Quite different from Lehmann’s other work is her autobiographical The Swan in the Evening: Fragments of an Inner Life. The book was motivated by the death of her only daughter, Sally, of poliomyelitis. After recounting her own early life, Lehmann examines closely the effect Sally’s death had on her. Then, alluding to psychologists, including Carl Jung, to support her argument, she goes on to express the conviction that her daughter’s spirit has survived and recounts elements of her continuing relationship with that spirit. With C. H. Sandys, Lehmann published Letters from Our Daughters, an indirect reminiscence about her daughter. Rosamond Lehmann’s Album, largely pictorial, appeared in 1985.
Lehmann, who served as president of the English International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists (PEN) and as international vice president of that organization, was an active translator of French works, including some of Jean Cocteau’s. She died on March 12, 1990, at the age of eighty-nine after being bedridden for several years.
Lehmann is at her literary best in her characterization of women and the anxieties of youth and love. The great theme of her fiction is the evanescent quality of love in a world where love is the only thing worth having. Although she will be remembered primarily for what was seen in her day as provocative content, more important is her significant contribution to the British novel: representations of consciousness and realism.
Author Works
Long Fiction:
Dusty Answer, 1927
A Note in Music, 1930
Invitation to the Waltz, 1932
The Weather in the Streets, 1936
The Ballad and the Source, 1944
The Echoing Grove, 1953
A Sea-Grape Tree, 1976
Short Fiction:
The Gipsy’s Baby, and Other Short Stories, 1946
Drama:
No More Music, pb. 1939
Nonfiction:
The Swan in the Evening: Fragments of an Inner Life, 1967 (autobiography)
Letters from Our Daughters, 1972 (with C. H. Sandys)
Rosamond Lehmann’s Album, 1985
Translation:
Genevieve, 1948 (by Jacques Lemarchand)
Children of the Game, 1955 (of Jean Cocteau’s novel Les Enfants terribles)
Bibliography
Hastings, Selina. Rosamond Lehmann: A Life. London: Chatto and Windus, 2002. A popular biography, emphasizing the events of Lehmann’s life and giving little on her literary output.
Lehmann, John. In My Own Time. Boston: Little, Brown, 1969. Probably the most important source of information on Rosamond Lehmann’s life, consisting of the three volumes of her brother’s memoirs published separately in earlier editions during the 1960s. The description of Rosamond’s childhood is especially revealing. Lehmann includes accounts of his sister’s numerous friendships, ranging from Bernard Berenson to Guy Burgess.
Le Stourgeon, Diana E. Rosamond Lehmann. New York: Twayne, 1969. A standard brief survey of Lehmann’s work, handicapped because it appeared before her brother’s memoirs. Notes her concentration on female characters; males are relegated to minor positions. Conflicts among different generations of women often figure at the center of Lehmann’s novels, which are reviewed in detail. Includes a bibliography of criticism of Lehmann with skimpy annotations.
Siegel, Ruth. Rosamond Lehmann: A Thirties Writer. New York: Peter Lang, 1989. The first two chapters provide a grounding in Lehmann’s life and the sources of her fiction. Subsequent chapters deal with her major novels. Includes family tree, notes, and bibliography.
Simons, Judy. Rosamond Lehmann. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992. Chapters on Lehmann’s life and background, women and modernism, the early novels, and realism. Separate chapters on Invitation to the Waltz, The Weather in the Streets, and The Ballad and the Source. One chapter on later works. Includes notes and bibliography.
Tindall, Gillian. Rosamond Lehmann: An Appreciation. London: Chatto and Windus, 1985. The most comprehensive critical study. Behind the surface readability of her novels, Lehmann is a "deep writer" who writes frequently of death, trying to puzzle out its meaning. Abortion and the death of the very young, in particular, figure often in her novels, as does rivalry between children and parents and relations between sisters. Discusses each of the novels, and many of the short stories, in elaborate detail. Contains no footnotes or index.