140:, Pearn's second novel, also received positive reviews, although one reviewer found it "too long, but must not be missed", and another "very, though not too, long". The heroine was considered "a formidable piece of characterisation", "an extraordinary study ... feature of the tale is the masterly manner in which the author builds up Marguerite's portrait." The story focuses on Marguerite, the eldest of a family of working-class Irish Catholics living in the north-east of England, and her two sisters and niece. Marguerite is determined to better herself and her family; she is "boastful, unscrupulous, generous-hearted"; "a dominating, deplorable and heroic character, on a scale that English fiction seldom affords;" "through the skill of the author, a very living person emerges." Reviewers described the novel as "carefully and imaginatively written", "exceptionally vital", and felt that the author had a "rare gift for keeping a tale going." Reviews were also carried in other leading international publications, including
209:. The main characters are Dick, a British doctor working for the Thai government; Audrey, who is in love with Dick and has flown from England to join him; Rosukon, a Thai princess and doctor who is the "counterpart" appointed to work with Dick as a condition of his employment; and Ted, a British botanist who fell in love with Audrey at a party in Bangkok. Reviewers commented on the "magical loveliness of the country" evoked by the author, her sense of humour, and her ability to "create for us people we shall not quickly forget"; it is "a novel in which people, silly, imperfect, fascinating human beings, and not an elaborate plot, make the story's motive."
118:, described it as "a remarkable first novel .. a love story, but of an unusual kind - the two characters are in conflict, the love they feel is unwilling, and the love pursues an at once aimless and painful course. ... the outbreak of .. war leaves the fate of one of the characters a mystery." Bowen considered the characterisation of the man "a masterpiece" - he was "indolent, incalculable, conservative", while the author had "succeeded in putting across on us one of the most odious, arid, shrewish and egocentric young heroines on record ... and ... in investing the love-affair ... with mystery, pain and poetry." The
222:
wonderful voice She sang ‘Ave Maria’ with such clear bell-like notes in the school hall at the end of term Then to crown everything we heard that she had won a scholarship to Oxford
University. Oxford! The word itself was magic. University was far enough beyond our reach. I had not heard of a single soul, other than our teachers, who had gone to one."
221:
in
Southwark, run by a Belgian order of nuns, provides an insight into Pearn's personal allure, as well as the extent of the achievement for a girl of her background to win a scholarship to Oxford at that time: "As well as her beauty, regal manner and reputedly formidable intellect, she had the most
46:
Pearn was born in 1913 to
Margaret Nichols, a third generation Irish immigrant, and William Pearn, a Cornishman. Her father died before she was born and she spent most of her childhood in convent boarding schools and orphanages while her mother worked as a governess in Europe. Pearn described her
174:(1949) features "a young man who goes to visit his uncle's widow in the country ... meets the doctor's daughter and they fall in love." The aunt, however, is "bed-ridden and bad-tempered", "a grotesque and repulsive old drunkard", who makes her nurse spy on the lovers.
82:. Unable to return as planned to Madrid in the summer of 1936, as a result of the military uprising in July, Pearn became involved in the Aid to Spain movement at Oxford. To demonstrate her commitment to the Spanish Republican cause, she had changed her name to Inez.
696:
78:. She was back in San Sebastián the following summer, chaperoned by her cousin, to work as a freelance English teacher. She returned to Madrid in the spring of 1936, this time winning a bursary to pursue research work on her doctoral thesis on
783:
249:, and a son. On Madge's retirement in 1970 they moved to France, restoring an old farm house, where they spent the next five years. Pearn developed cancer in 1975 and died in February 1976, shortly after her 62nd birthday.
30:, was a British novelist who was acclaimed for her "remorseless interest in emotional truth", her "formidable ... characterisation", and her ability to evoke places with "almost magical clarity". The author and critic
189:. The heroine, Peggy, was "a robust young person", who "falls foul of a nun and goes back to school one term to find that her enemy has been appointed headmistress." Reviewers compared this novel to
829:
801:
124:
also thought it "a good book": "the clash of conventions is movingly and amusingly done", and "the romance ends, as romance often does, with influenza." The novel was also reviewed in the
108:
drifted inexorably towards a violent confrontation. The novel was warmly received when it was published in 1945, under the pen name
Elizabeth Lake (the name of her maternal grandmother).
178:
recommended it "for its lack of sentimentality, for the skill with which the gloom is frequently relieved by subtle humour, and for the sheer perfection of Miss Lake's style," while
94:, in 1937. Her visits to Spain and her romantic involvement, first with a Spanish diplomat and later with an unsuccessful portrait artist, provided the background material for
256:, a process that involved some 40 sittings. The painting is now held in the archives at the Tate Britain. There is also a series of studies of her by the Bauhaus photographer
1220:
1195:
1200:
218:
1205:
51:, her second novel, which was closely based on her family history, spanning four generations since their arrival from Ireland in the mid-1840s, and
1215:
182:
said "it is the development of the four characters ... which will hold the reader and reveal the writer's quite exceptional talent and quality."
90:
Between 1945 and 1958, Pearn published five novels, at least three of them highly autobiographical. Pearn completed a draft of her first novel,
936:
592:
567:
410:
374:
312:
290:
185:
Pearn drew on her time as a student at a
Catholic boarding school in London, run by nuns from the Convent of Notre Dame de Namur, in writing
1166:
100:
245:. She left Spender the following year and married Madge in 1942, after their respective divorces. They had two children: a daughter,
1210:
1140:
164:
1015:
466:
608:
98:, which gives an insightful first hand impression of the confusion and apprehension of the period known in Spanish as the
1071:
120:
843:
237:
in Oxford and married him in
December 1936 after a three-week engagement. In 1938 she met the poet and sociologist
67:
55:, which focuses on an incident during her time as a sixth-former in a Catholic convent boarding school in London.
1171:
1045:
983:
953:
926:
896:
866:
666:
622:
532:
496:
434:
1097:
105:
63:
815:
1126:
648:
1190:
1185:
297:
157:
271:
253:
142:
1102:
932:
588:
563:
406:
370:
308:
304:
286:
282:
168:, perhaps because Marguerite trains and works as a nurse, as do, eventually, her two sisters.
131:
364:
71:
35:
234:
109:
31:
242:
230:
1179:
399:
321:
278:
246:
238:
190:
148:
126:
75:
1161:
257:
1116:
William
Coldstream, letter to Tate Gallery, 8 March 1955, Tate catalogue files
756:
726:
114:
79:
1141:"Lucia Moholy: Agnes Marie Inez Spender – National Portrait Gallery, London"
226:
59:
202:
162:
literary magazine, Dublin. It even made the recommended reading list in
1156:
Letters from and to Inez Pearn are held in the following collections:
277:(Pilot Press, 1945) — Republished with an afterword by her daughter,
260:, two of which are held at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
197:, with one saying "this new book is certainly in the same class."
1170:
Stephen
Spender archive, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
1160:
Charles Madge
Archive, University of Sussex Special Collections
225:
While at Oxford, Pearn had several affairs, with, among others,
1165:
Stephen
Spender Collection, Watkinson Library, Trinity College
844:"The British Journal of Nursing, November 1946, Vol.94, p. 130"
66:. She then won a scholarship to study Spanish Literature at
201:
During the 1950s, Pearn and her husband spent a year in
146:(which described it as "unusual ... a total surprise"),
205:, which provided the inspiration for her final novel,
560:
Spanish Portrait (with an afterword by Vicky Randall)
1098:"Angus Calder: Charles Madge, Obituary, 20Jan1996"
398:
252:Early in 1938 Pearn was captured in a portrait by
1127:"William Coldstream: Inez Spender - Tate Britain"
405:. Routledge/Cañada Blanch Foundation, London.
34:considered that she belonged to the school of
8:
920:
918:
720:
718:
435:"Elizabeth Bowen reviewing Books - In Spain"
358:
356:
354:
352:
350:
58:Pearn spent the summer of 1933 working as a
703:. No. 6450. London, England. p. 3
241:, who was married at that time to the poet
860:
858:
856:
690:
688:
660:
658:
562:. The Clapton Press, London. p. 226.
1039:
1037:
1009:
1007:
1005:
750:
748:
392:
390:
388:
386:
526:
524:
522:
520:
518:
428:
426:
424:
422:
977:
975:
890:
888:
757:"Book Reviews - Involved Relationships"
460:
458:
456:
401:British Women and the Spanish Civil War
346:
62:to the children of a wealthy family in
958:Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer
665:Howells-Jones, W. (20 November 1946).
490:
488:
695:Sadleir, Michael (24 November 1946).
531:Bowen, Elizabeth (18 December 1946).
433:Bowen, Elizabeth (13 February 1946).
303:(Pilot Press, 1946) — Republished by
7:
1221:Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford
725:Tomlinson, H.M. (30 November 1946).
1044:Harvey, Elizabeth (25 March 1958).
649:"The New Statesman, 2nd March 1946"
533:"Books Reviewed by Elizabeth Bowen"
70:, where she was close friends with
1196:20th-century British women writers
1014:Bowen, Elizabeth (23 April 1958).
865:Fane, Vernon (17 September 1949).
816:"The Listener, 12th December 1946"
782:Parker, Helen B. (27 April 1947).
363:John Sutherland (6 January 2005).
14:
1201:British people of Cornish descent
895:Page, Philip (7 September 1949).
583:Elizabeth Lake (19 August 2019).
784:"Heroine in Search of Her Class"
465:Laker, J.H.C. (4 January 1947).
369:. Oxford University Press, USA.
366:Stephen Spender: A Literary Life
1206:British people of Irish descent
952:Cooper, Lettice (30 May 1952).
1216:20th-century British novelists
867:"Variety among the New Novels"
802:"The Spectator, November 1946"
763:. Cincinnati, Ohio. p. 16
755:Bardon, Minna (5 April 1947).
609:"The First Rebellion - Review"
165:The British Journal of Nursing
1:
873:. London, England. p. 32
731:The Times Literary Supplement
587:. The Clapton Press, London.
495:Fane, Vernon (5 April 1958).
733:(2339). London, England: 589
697:"New Novels - Mostly Abroad"
629:. 7 February 1946. p. 2
47:childhood in some detail in
1072:"Philosophical philanderer"
984:"A glimpse behind the veil"
441:. London. pp. 215, 220
1237:
982:Hood, John (28 May 1952).
217:A contemporary of hers at
68:Somerville College, Oxford
925:Jennie Hawthorne (2005).
988:Birmingham Daily Gazette
467:"Books for Fife Readers"
42:Early life and education
1211:British women novelists
1078:. Ireland. 20 June 1999
761:The Cincinnati Enquirer
558:Elizabeth Lake (2019).
397:Angela Jackson (2002).
667:"A Snob in Petticoats"
22:(1913–1976), known as
1050:Birmingham Daily Post
931:. Sutton Publishing.
830:"The Bell, June 1946"
336:(Cresset Press, 1958)
330:(Cresset Press, 1951)
156:(by Henry Reed), and
497:"The World of Books"
471:Fifeshire Advertiser
318:The Lovers Disturbed
233:. She also met poet
172:The Lovers Disturbed
64:San Sebastián, Spain
26:and by the pen name
623:"It Ends With 'Flu"
334:Siamese Counterpart
328:The First Rebellion
298:"Marguerite Reilly"
207:Siamese Counterpart
187:The First Rebellion
53:The First Rebellion
1106:. 20 January 1996.
788:The New York Times
272:"Spanish Portrait"
254:William Coldstream
143:The New York Times
112:, reviewing it in
1103:Independent.co.uk
954:"Four New Novels"
938:978-0-750939-96-6
928:East End Memories
727:"Change of Scene"
594:978-1-9996543-1-3
585:Marguerite Reilly
569:978-1-9996543-2-0
412:978-0-19-517816-6
376:978-0-19-517816-6
313:978-1-9996543-1-3
305:The Clapton Press
291:978-1-9996543-2-0
283:The Clapton Press
219:Notre Dame School
138:Marguerite Reilly
49:Marguerite Reilly
20:Marie Agnes Pearn
1228:
1145:
1144:
1137:
1131:
1130:
1123:
1117:
1114:
1108:
1107:
1094:
1088:
1087:
1085:
1083:
1068:
1062:
1061:
1059:
1057:
1041:
1032:
1031:
1029:
1027:
1011:
1000:
999:
997:
995:
979:
970:
969:
967:
965:
949:
943:
942:
922:
913:
912:
910:
908:
892:
883:
882:
880:
878:
862:
851:
850:
848:
840:
834:
833:
826:
820:
819:
812:
806:
805:
798:
792:
791:
779:
773:
772:
770:
768:
752:
743:
742:
740:
738:
722:
713:
712:
710:
708:
701:The Sunday Times
692:
683:
682:
680:
678:
662:
653:
652:
645:
639:
638:
636:
634:
619:
613:
612:
611:. 20 March 2015.
605:
599:
598:
580:
574:
573:
555:
549:
548:
546:
544:
528:
513:
512:
510:
508:
492:
483:
482:
480:
478:
462:
451:
450:
448:
446:
430:
417:
416:
404:
394:
381:
380:
360:
301:
275:
106:Spanish Republic
96:Spanish Portrait
92:Spanish Portrait
72:Marghanita Laski
36:literary realism
16:British novelist
1236:
1235:
1231:
1230:
1229:
1227:
1226:
1225:
1176:
1175:
1154:
1149:
1148:
1139:
1138:
1134:
1125:
1124:
1120:
1115:
1111:
1096:
1095:
1091:
1081:
1079:
1070:
1069:
1065:
1055:
1053:
1043:
1042:
1035:
1025:
1023:
1013:
1012:
1003:
993:
991:
981:
980:
973:
963:
961:
951:
950:
946:
939:
924:
923:
916:
906:
904:
894:
893:
886:
876:
874:
864:
863:
854:
846:
842:
841:
837:
828:
827:
823:
814:
813:
809:
800:
799:
795:
781:
780:
776:
766:
764:
754:
753:
746:
736:
734:
724:
723:
716:
706:
704:
694:
693:
686:
676:
674:
664:
663:
656:
647:
646:
642:
632:
630:
621:
620:
616:
607:
606:
602:
595:
582:
581:
577:
570:
557:
556:
552:
542:
540:
530:
529:
516:
506:
504:
494:
493:
486:
476:
474:
464:
463:
454:
444:
442:
432:
431:
420:
413:
396:
395:
384:
377:
362:
361:
348:
343:
296:
270:
266:
235:Stephen Spender
215:
198:
110:Elizabeth Bowen
88:
44:
32:Elizabeth Bowen
17:
12:
11:
5:
1234:
1232:
1224:
1223:
1218:
1213:
1208:
1203:
1198:
1193:
1188:
1178:
1177:
1174:
1173:
1168:
1163:
1153:
1152:External links
1150:
1147:
1146:
1132:
1118:
1109:
1089:
1063:
1033:
1016:"Book Reviews"
1001:
971:
944:
937:
914:
897:"Book Reviews"
884:
852:
835:
821:
807:
793:
774:
744:
714:
684:
654:
640:
614:
600:
593:
575:
568:
550:
514:
484:
452:
418:
411:
382:
375:
345:
344:
342:
339:
338:
337:
331:
325:
315:
293:
265:
262:
243:Kathleen Raine
231:Philip Toynbee
214:
211:
87:
84:
43:
40:
28:Elizabeth Lake
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1233:
1222:
1219:
1217:
1214:
1212:
1209:
1207:
1204:
1202:
1199:
1197:
1194:
1192:
1189:
1187:
1184:
1183:
1181:
1172:
1169:
1167:
1164:
1162:
1159:
1158:
1157:
1151:
1142:
1136:
1133:
1128:
1122:
1119:
1113:
1110:
1105:
1104:
1099:
1093:
1090:
1077:
1073:
1067:
1064:
1051:
1047:
1040:
1038:
1034:
1021:
1017:
1010:
1008:
1006:
1002:
989:
985:
978:
976:
972:
959:
955:
948:
945:
940:
934:
930:
929:
921:
919:
915:
903:. p. 402
902:
898:
891:
889:
885:
872:
868:
861:
859:
857:
853:
845:
839:
836:
831:
825:
822:
817:
811:
808:
803:
797:
794:
790:. p. 90.
789:
785:
778:
775:
762:
758:
751:
749:
745:
732:
728:
721:
719:
715:
702:
698:
691:
689:
685:
672:
668:
661:
659:
655:
650:
644:
641:
628:
624:
618:
615:
610:
604:
601:
596:
590:
586:
579:
576:
571:
565:
561:
554:
551:
539:. p. 400
538:
534:
527:
525:
523:
521:
519:
515:
502:
498:
491:
489:
485:
472:
468:
461:
459:
457:
453:
440:
436:
429:
427:
425:
423:
419:
414:
408:
403:
402:
393:
391:
389:
387:
383:
378:
372:
368:
367:
359:
357:
355:
353:
351:
347:
340:
335:
332:
329:
326:
323:
322:Cresset Press
319:
316:
314:
310:
306:
302:
299:
294:
292:
288:
284:
280:
279:Vicky Randall
276:
273:
268:
267:
263:
261:
259:
255:
250:
248:
247:Vicky Randall
244:
240:
239:Charles Madge
236:
232:
228:
223:
220:
213:Personal life
212:
210:
208:
204:
199:
196:
192:
191:Antonia White
188:
183:
181:
177:
173:
169:
167:
166:
161:
160:
155:
151:
150:
149:The Spectator
145:
144:
139:
135:
133:
129:
128:
127:New Statesman
123:
122:
117:
116:
111:
107:
103:
102:
97:
93:
85:
83:
81:
77:
73:
69:
65:
61:
56:
54:
50:
41:
39:
37:
33:
29:
25:
21:
1155:
1135:
1121:
1112:
1101:
1092:
1080:. Retrieved
1075:
1066:
1054:. Retrieved
1049:
1046:"New Novels"
1024:. Retrieved
1022:. p. 35
1019:
992:. Retrieved
987:
962:. Retrieved
957:
947:
927:
905:. Retrieved
900:
875:. Retrieved
870:
838:
824:
810:
796:
787:
777:
765:. Retrieved
760:
735:. Retrieved
730:
705:. Retrieved
700:
675:. Retrieved
671:Western Mail
670:
643:
631:. Retrieved
627:Daily Herald
626:
617:
603:
584:
578:
559:
553:
541:. Retrieved
536:
505:. Retrieved
503:. p. 32
500:
475:. Retrieved
470:
443:. Retrieved
438:
400:
365:
333:
327:
317:
295:
269:
258:Lucia Moholy
251:
224:
216:
206:
200:
195:Frost in May
194:
186:
184:
179:
175:
171:
170:
163:
158:
154:The Listener
153:
147:
141:
137:
136:
130:by the poet
125:
121:Daily Herald
119:
113:
101:bienio negro
99:
95:
91:
89:
76:Sally Graves
57:
52:
48:
45:
27:
23:
19:
18:
1191:1976 deaths
1186:1913 births
1076:Independent
1052:. p. 5
990:. p. 4
960:. p. 2
673:. p. 4
473:. p. 4
1180:Categories
1020:The Tatler
901:The Tatler
871:The Sphere
537:The Tatler
501:The Sphere
439:The Tatler
341:References
180:The Sphere
176:The Tatler
132:Henry Reed
115:The Tatler
24:Inez Pearn
1082:6 January
1056:6 January
1026:6 January
994:6 January
964:6 January
907:6 January
877:6 January
767:7 January
737:6 January
707:6 January
677:5 January
633:5 January
543:5 January
507:5 January
477:5 January
445:5 January
227:A.J. Ayer
104:, as the
60:governess
307:, 2019,
285:, 2019,
203:Thailand
159:The Bell
324:, 1949)
80:Góngora
935:
591:
566:
409:
373:
311:
289:
264:Novels
86:Career
847:(PDF)
281:, by
1084:2019
1058:2019
1028:2019
996:2019
966:2019
933:ISBN
909:2019
879:2019
769:2019
739:2019
709:2019
679:2019
635:2019
589:ISBN
564:ISBN
545:2019
509:2019
479:2019
447:2019
407:ISBN
371:ISBN
309:ISBN
287:ISBN
229:and
74:and
193:'s
1182::
1100:.
1074:.
1048:.
1036:^
1018:.
1004:^
986:.
974:^
956:.
917:^
899:.
887:^
869:.
855:^
786:.
759:.
747:^
729:.
717:^
699:.
687:^
669:.
657:^
625:.
535:.
517:^
499:.
487:^
469:.
455:^
437:.
421:^
385:^
349:^
152:,
134:.
38:.
1143:.
1129:.
1086:.
1060:.
1030:.
998:.
968:.
941:.
911:.
881:.
849:.
832:.
818:.
804:.
771:.
741:.
711:.
681:.
651:.
637:.
597:.
572:.
547:.
511:.
481:.
449:.
415:.
379:.
320:(
300:.
274:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.