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Edward Thomas: The Last Four Years

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This is the story of the renowned poet Edward Thomas's last four years, told by Eleanor Farjeon, a wealthy woman who loved him very much, but who never told him so. Farjeon, a poet herself and writer of books for children, met Thomas in 1912. He was already married and had three children. They became very close friends, but, you know, in that discreet and rigid British-Victorian way (they, for example, kissed cheeks only once, when he was going to war).

Eleanor became also a close friend of Thomas's wife Helen. She knew Eleanor loved his husband, but she was assured that would never be a problem. In fact, Thomas's relationship with his wife was surprisingly "modern" and unconventional, even by today's standards. The story is full of repressed passions, interesting side-stories, intimate aspects of other famous poets' lives, including of course Robert Frost, the main influence in Edward Thomas's life, Walter de la Mare, and others.

The text makes full use of Thomas's letters to Eleanor, a glimpse into his intimate family life. It will be interesting to specialists, but also for those who want to have a close flavor of what life in those years was like in England. In the end, it's a wonderful love story, because it contains the elements of an impossible love and a tragic ending. Very tragic indeed. A plus is contained in the additional essays, where Eleanor remembers his beloved one, forty years after his death.