Between Friends: Letters of Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby - Softcover

Showalter, Elaine; Showalter, English

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0349012288 ISBN 13: 9780349012285

Publisher: Virago, 2023

Synopsis

The letters between Vera Brittain, author of Testament of Youth, and Winifred Holtby, author of South Riding, tell the story of an extraordinary friendship

'Touching and inspiring' RACHEL COOKE, Observer

'Lively, perceptive' MIRANDA SEYMOUR, Literary Review

'A beautiful collection' DAISY DUNN, Sunday Times

'A moving unvarnished chronicle' Sarah Watling, Telegraph

From the time when they met at Somerville College, Oxford, until Winifred's early death at the age of thirty-seven, they wrote constantly, encouraging and advising each other, even through periods as literary rivals as they negotiated envy and self-doubt.

Vera decisively influenced Winifred's passion for feminism and peace and Winifred gave Vera crucial support, fiercely believing in her literary gifts. Their letters, written from 1920 to 1935, kept them 'continuously together'.

About this title

About the Authors

Elaine Showalter author of A Literature of Their Own, A Jury of their Peers among many books, is professor emerita at Princeton University.

English Showalter is a professor emeritus of French literature at Rutgers University. He was an editor of Correspondance de Madame de Graffign and has written on the eighteenth-century French novel and Camus. They live in Washington DC.

From the Back Cover

The letters between Vera Brittain, author of Testament of Youth, and Winifred Holtby, author of South Riding. A fascinating story of friends who intended - and did - make their mark as writers and campaigners.

'Expertly and sensitively edited... a true partnership of two women valiantly, imperfectly, trying to find new ways to live' Samantha Ellis, Guardian

From the time when they met at Somerville College, Oxford, until Winifred's early death at the age of thirty-seven, their letters, written from 1920 to 1935, encouraged and advised and kept them 'continuously together' even through periods as literary rivals when they had to negotiate envy and self-doubt.

'The relationship at their centre is endlessly intriguing... touching and inspiring' Rachel Cooke, Observer

Vera decisively influenced Winifred's passion for feminism and peace and Winifred gave Vera crucial support, fiercely believing in her literary gifts.

'A beautiful collection' Daisy Dunn, Sunday Times

A portrait of the inter-war years and a dramatic, touching and ultimately tragic story.

Edition details

• Publisher: Virago
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0349012288
• ISBN 13: 9780349012285
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496