The swan's nest

Title:

The swan's nest

Author:

McNeal, Laura, author.

Personal Author:

McNeal, Laura, author.

ISBN:

9781643753201

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

310 pages ; 24 cm

Abstract:

"A tender and engrossing historical novel about the unlikely love affair between two great nineteenth-century poets, Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett. On a bleak January day in 1845, a poet who had been confined to her room for four years by recurrent illness received a letter from a writer she secretly idolized but had never seen"-- Provided by publisher.

Personal Subject:

Browning, Robert, 1812-1889-Fiction.

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 1806-1861-Fiction.

Subject Term:

Poets, English -- 19th century -- Fiction.

Man-woman relationships -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction.

Genre:

Biographical fiction.

Historical fiction.

Novels.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Ginter Park	Book	FICTION MCNEAL	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Hull Street	Book	FICTION MCNEAL	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Main Library	Book	FICTION MCNEAL	Searching... Unknown

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On Order

Summary

On a bleak January day in 1845, a poet who had been confined to her room for four years by recurrent illness received a letter from a writer she secretly idolized but had never seen. "I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett," Robert Browning wrote, "and I love you too."

Elizabeth Barrett was ecstatic. She was famous for her poetry but completely cut off from the kind of international travel that Browning used to fuel his obscure, unsuccessful, innovative poems, one of which was written from a murderer's point of view. They began an affectionate correspondence, but Elizabeth kept delaying a visit. What would happen when he saw her in person? What was Robert really like? Could she persuade her father and brothers that he was honourable, even though she had never met his family? And what would happen if she gave in to Robert's wild proposal that they go to Italy and see if the sun could cure her?

McNeal brilliantly tells the story of how Robert and Elizabeth fell in love with each other's words and shocked her conservative, close-knit family and the literary world. Sensitively and lyrically written, as rich as the lovers' own poetry, The Swan's Nest will sweep up readers in the triumphant story of two people forced to choose between a safe, stable life and the love they felt for each other.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

The clandestine love affair between Victorian poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning is set against a background of slavery and injustice in Jamaica, with implications for the Barrett family, "dirtied by profit from the West Indies." "I do, as I say, love these books with all my heart--and I love you too," the not (yet) successful Browning declares, in 1845 England, in a letter to the invalid Barrett, whom he has never met yet already admires for her work and searching intelligence. Too fragile to be visited during the winter, Barrett prevents Browning from calling for five months, but the couple exchange a frantic correspondence, while their siblings meet socially in a circle that includes proto-feminist and abolitionist Lenore Goss. While spending time in Jamaica, where her family owns a sugar plantation, Goss met one of Barrett's brothers, Sam, who was managing his own family's plantation. Before his death from yellow fever, Sam had taken a Black woman, Mary Ann Hawthorne, as his mistress, and had a child with her, David. Mary Ann and David have recently come to London seeking acknowledgment from the Barrett family and an education for the boy, requests that are denied by the clan's patriarch, a stern, controlling figure who dominates Elizabeth's life and health. Browning, younger and poorer but ardent, wants to marry Barrett and take her abroad for her health, a commitment viewed anxiously by his sister, Sarianna, whose lot is to tend their elderly mother. While the men have freedom, it's the women's predicaments and situations that interest McNeal, switching among them sympathetically until the poets make their escape, marrying secretly and fleeing to Italy. Now the storyline hews more closely to the two central figures and their romantic but precarious journey, while maintaining a sensitive watch on its scattered cast. An eternally satisfying love story is retold, backed by a detailed examination of colonial privilege. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.