In April 1916 Katherine Mansfield and John Middleton Murry arrived in Cornwall’s remote far west. They had just spent an idyllic time in Bandol in the south of France (the story about that period of their lives can be read here) but were returning to England during one of the darkest periods of the war,… Read more »
David Herbert Lawrence (1885 – 1930) was an English writer and poet. His modernist fiction focused on the inner self and the unconscious, reflecting on the dehumanising effects of industrialisation. Some of the issues Lawrence explores are sexuality, instinct and and vitality.
The year Simone de Beauvoir spent teaching in Marseille was pivotal. Wanting above all to write, she was ‘gluttonous for experience’ and in this spectacular city she found herself at liberty to spend most of her time as she chose. Following a difficult period in her life, she was determined to start afresh. Meeting Sartre… Read more »
When she discovered the intriguing house in Hyères in 1919, Edith Wharton was fifty-seven years of age. The great novelist, traveller, house designer and gardener knew at once it was perfect and with boundless creative energy, she set about creating a winter and spring retreat. Until she died, she spent six months of every year… Read more »
Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was an American novelist, short story writer and a designer of gardens and interiors. She wrote about the lives and morals of New York ‘aristocracy’ in the late nineteenth, early twentieth century.
Ali Smith (1962 – ) is a an award winning Scottish author, playwright, academic, journalist and one of Britains finest writers.
These quotes are a small selection from the many writers and poets who have been drawn to Cornwall. With the exception of Percy Shelley who may or may not have visited Cornwall at all, and Paul Theroux who travelled through the county only briefly, they all lived here for a time; for some, the place… Read more »
Childhood Daphne du Maurier’s childhood was typical of the privileged upper classes of her time. Born on 13th May, 1907, she was the middle of three daughters to the famous actor Sir Gerald du Maurier and his actress wife Muriel Beaumont. The family had grown prosperous; the previous year Gerald had played the lead in… Read more »