The Yeats Sisters: Biography of Susan and Elizabeth Yeats - Softcover

Hardwick, Joan

3.75

16 ratings by Goodreads

9780044409243: The Yeats Sisters: Biography of Susan and Elizabeth Yeats

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0044409249 ISBN 13: 9780044409243

Publisher: Pandora, 1996

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In his autobiography and letters the Irish poet W.B. Yeats gives the impression that he had one rather shadowy sister on the fringes of his life. In reality the poet was for long periods largely dependent on his two sisters, Susan (Lily) and Elizabeth (Lolly). The family home in which he lived was for many years sustained only by the earnings of Lily, who worked as an embroiderer for May Morris, and Lolly, who taught in a kindergarten and gave lessons in painting. This biography reveals not only the artistic talents of these women, but also their great resourcefulness. With determination and acumen they achieved an unusual financial independence by means of their business Cuala industries, at a time in Irish history when attempts at self-determination were at best tolerated, and more often derided.

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From the Back Cover:

In his autobiography and letters the Irish poet W.B. Yeats gives the impression that he had one rather shadowy sister somewhere on the fringes of his life. In actuality the poet was for many years largely dependent on his two sisters, Susan (Lily) and Elizabeth (Lolly). The family home in which he lived was for very many years sustained only by the earnings of Lily, who worked as an embroiderer for May Morris, and Lolly, who taught in a kindergarten and gave lessons in painting.

Lily and Lolly were women of exceptional creativity, generosity and courage. History’s focus on their father, the painter John Butler Yeats, their brother Jack, who was also a painter and on their brother William, the poet, has done them a great disservice.

Joan Hardwick’s insightful and carefully researched biography reveals not only the artistic talents of these women – one a remarkable embroiderer, the other a skilled painter, teacher and printer – but also their great resourcefulness. With determination and acumen they achieved an unusual financial independence by means of their business Cuala Industries, at a time in Irish history when attempts at female self-determination were at best tolerated, and more often derided.

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