Dark Tide (Virago Modern Classics) [Paperback]

Vera Brittain (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002 | Series: Virago Modern Classics

Bright and vivacious, Daphne Lethbridge is back at Oxford after a stint of volunteer work. World War I has ravaged Europe, but it has done nothing to daunt her spirit, and she plunges headlong into the whirl of college life. Her enjoyment, though, is soured by her cynical contemporary Virginia Dennison, who spars with Daphne on every occasion. Daphne seems to triumph over Virginia when she marries a rising political star, but it's not long before she begins to realize the bitter truth of her marriage. It takes a chance encounter with her old enemy for her disillusionment to give way to a mature understanding of love and friendship.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

First published in 1923 and based on events at an Oxford women's college, Vera Brittain's (Testament of Youth) debut, The Dark Tide, caused something of a scandal, mainly because it was considered a libelous roman clef by many of those caricatured including university dons and one of the author's best friends. It traces the tumultuous friendship between Daphne Lethbridge and Virginia Dennison, from their often prickly encounters at Oxford just after WWI to the allegiance they forge later on when Daphne's marriage falls apart.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

'A haunting elegy for a lost generation' - The Times 'A unique record of one woman's experience of twentyfive of the most cataclysmic years in modern history' - Times Literary Supplement

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Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860497691
• ISBN-13: 978-1860497698
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,140,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vera and Winifred at Oxford, July 23, 2000

By 

Lynette Baines (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Tide (Virago Modern Classics) (Paperback)

Vera Brittain is best known as the author of "Testament of Youth", one of the finest memoirs to come out of the First World War. "The dark tide" is her first novel, written in the early 1920's when she was sharing a flat in London with fellow writer Winifred Holtby, the friend who helped her survive the crushing blows she sustained during the war. The novel is a thinly disguised account of their time at Oxford in 1919. Virginia Dennison (an idealised portrait of Vera) and Daphne Lethbridge (a sometimes cruelly caricatured picture of Winifred) meet as students and spend most of the novel at cross purposes. Their gradual friendship is beautifully described, although some of the incidents of the novel are rather melodramatic. One of the best scenes in the novel- the debate where Virginia feels betrayed and rejected because of her war service- is based on fact, and the scenes of Oxford student life are fascinating. The book was banned at Oxford when it was published as the dons considered that the book brought the college into disrepute. I see it as a fascinating first step in the career of one of the twentieth century's best writers on war and friendship.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Romance After WW1 Written with Too Honest Pen, December 24, 2001

By 

Tsuyoshi (Kyoto, Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Dark Tide (Virago Modern Classics) (Paperback)

Reading Vera Brittain's The Dark Tide" now makes us feel like watching old silent films. Though it still manages to fascinate us, you cannot deny the fact that it is dated. Still, the book has its moment, and does not lose its power and honesty.

[PLOT] The story largely revolves around the two characters: Daphne and Virginia. They both came back to Oxford after the interruption of WW1, and Daphne, good-natured but a little flamboyant, enjoys her life at her college until the appearance of Virginia, whom Daphne came to see with a deep enmity. Together being coached by their selfish tutor Sylvester, Daphne cannot help entering into rivalry with Virginia, apparently cold, cynical, but intellectual woman.

Now, the book's flaw is obvious. Characters are drawn too flat. They are not given enough complexity to make us relate to any of them, so we cannot simply believe that Daphne can fall in love suddenly and deeply with her tutor, to devote her life to him. Today's readers would be surprised (and even angry) to know that the heroine, who is hit (and almost killed) by her husband (who happened to have a mistress), can not only endure such humiliated position but refuses to go to divorce court (while she has hard evidence that proves his infidelity). Instead, she forgives him and lets him go on way to be England's "Minister of Arbitration." I do not quote the convoluted logic she uses at the end of the book. Remember, the book is, as its introduction says, "an amusing period piece."

[BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS] More interesting side of "The Dark Tide" is its biographical background. Vera Brittain, who would be forever remembered as the author of "Testament of Youth," fantastic memoir about the time during WW1, wrote "The Dark Tide" as a virtually autobiographical story. It is said that Virginia Dennison, a seemingly cynical student back from the war-time job of nursing, is a self-portrait of Vera Brittain herself; and Daphne Lethbridge is also considered to be a caricature (and very crude and cruel one at that) of Vera's close friend, Winifred Holtby.

The heroine who dominated the whole book is, strangely, Daphne. The story vividly describes the life during her college days at Oxford, but the latter half of the book is mostly devoted to the dismal descriptions of Daphne's failed marriage. Now suppose Daphne's portrait is based on a real-life person, abd in this case on the author's best friend. Things get very uncomfortable, and they did. Many people protested against the book (she wrote other caricatures), but how Holtby felt, I wish I know. (There is a short list of suggested reading, so that may help.)

Perhaps we should read "The Dark Tide" without any historical knowledge. However, as a novel per se, it is deeply flawed though it is very readable even today. Reading this book was a strange experiance for me; it was reading someone's personal journal, someone too vivacious, and a little careless.