Mary Renault: A Biography (Harvest Book) [Paperback]

David Sweetman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harvest Book | Publication Date: July 15, 1994

The author of The Charioteer and The King Must Die, Renault studied at Oxford but eventually abandoned the academic world and England for South Africa, where she and her companion, Julie Mullard, remained. "A superb biography of an exceptional novelist" (New Yorker). Named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times. Index; photographs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This outstanding biography of the celebrated historical novelist was a Lambda Literary Award nominee. Photos.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

This first nonacademic biography of Renault was developed by Sweetman (Van Gogh, 1990) from a rare interview granted him in 1981, two years before his subject's death. In that interview, Renault conveyed both her discomfort with being an ``apostle of the sexual revolution'' and her pride in the research behind her award- winning historical novels. Daughter of a provincial doctor, Renault attended St. Hugh's, an Oxford college for women. To escape an idle future as a maiden daughter living in her mother's sewing room, she trained to be a nurse. Along with the discipline and deprivation, she discovered her sexual nature and Julie Mullard, who was to become her life- long companion and the subject of her first novel, the subtly sexual The Purposes of Love (1939)--the first of Renault's series of contemporary novels that culminated in The Charioteer (1953), an open and sympathetic depiction of homosexual love. By the time it was published, Renault--in order to escape high taxes, the cold, and social rejection--had moved to South Africa, where she began publishing the historical novels for which she's best remembered. Carefully researched, richly imagined, her dignified representations of homosexuality among the heros and gods of ancient Greece and Rome won her a following of gay liberationists- -whose position she rejected as ``sexual tribalism.'' As honorary president of the Cape Town chapter of PEN, Renault was attacked by Nadine Gordimer for not including blacks in the chapter--which is about as controversial as Renault ever became: When she died at age 78, many still believed that her novels had been written by a man. Somewhere between this wary approach to an exceptional mind and the academic jargon that Renault seems to attract, there's still much to be explained. Renault continues to wear her own Mask of Apollo. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (July 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156000601
• ISBN-13: 978-0156000604
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Biographies & Memoirs > Lesbian
  • #55 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Social Scientists & Psychologists

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars nice bio, August 27, 2003

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PuppyTalk "BlackMutt" (NY United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mary Renault: A Biography (Harvest Book) (Paperback)

It is well-written, and easy to read. I especially appreciated the episodes and explanations of the circumstances, political movements, and her struggles which inspired Mary Renault to write each story. Now I understand how each story was created, and what was on her mind when she wrote them.
When I first read her <the Last of the Wine>, which is a remarkable book, one of her best, I couldn't understand why she didn't take more pages to write about Alkibiades and the defeat of the Athenian fleet. This is the kind of scene she normally takes time and writes in great, vivid details. It seemed so odd and out of her character that she just skimmed through it (although it still came out all right). I had to read it twice to understand what exactly happened, and even after I understood, I wasn't satisfied.
Well, the mystery was solved now that I know that the publishing company had forced her to eliminate so many pages, she had to cut out one-third of the book. That particular scene was the one that suffered. I don't blame her if she never forgave the publishing company. We the readers have been deprived a great deal.

I was also tickled to read that she had to let her secretary go because the secretary wanted to improve her grammar!

Her relationships with her parents, friends and her agents, editors, correspondents, and especially with her companion Julie are heart-warming. This biography brought her person alive and vivid, and now I can look at her works from another dimention.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Oddly unsatisfactory., August 15, 2004

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P. A. PACKER "pp312" (gorokan, new south wales, australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mary Renault: A Biography (Harvest Book) (Paperback)

Just couldn't get into this book, especially written as it is by someone who knew Renault. No one admires the author more than I, and books like THE CHARIOTEER, THE LAST OF THE WINE and THE PERSIAN BOY have been for me jewels in the crown of life. So I looked forward to this biography as a tantalising mystery finally about to be solved--Renault unmasked at last! No, sorry, it just didn't happen for me. Sweetman seems fixated on Renault's sexuality, which I don't discount or revile from, but which to me is not the essence of her books, the thing that makes them great. So what is it that makes them great? Her intelligence! Renault is the most intelligent author I've ever read; intelligence seems to stream out everywhere, along with tastefullness and a wonderful compassion for humanity. And style! What a fabulous stylist! I can read and re-read her books endlessly just for the style, not to mention the insight, the fabulous observation of detail. These are the qualities I wanted to find out about. Who was this woman? How did she become such a great person and a great author? Well, I don't know because Sweetman's biography doesn't tell me. We get the facts, yes, especially about her lesbian relationship, and we discover some of her activities while writing the books, most notably a trip to Greece. But we discover almost nothing about her general opinions, her tastes, all those things one asks about in order to uncover a person. For instance I would have liked to know her opinion of some of the fine historical films emerging at the time she was writing her historical novels, most notably Ben-Hur and Spartacus. We hear that she quite liked Quo Vadis, but little information is given. And what music did she listen to (only the Caesar Franck sonata is mentioned)? What did she like to eat? There are a million questions, few of which Sweetman answers. And I miss any decent literary criticism. At one point Sweetman remarks that a certain editor seemed insensible of Renault's literary excellence, but then so does Sweetman himself given how few words he expends on it. How for instance did Renault develop such a brilliantly unique style? I remember first reading THE LAST OF THE WINE (at 16) and being fascinated by a style unlike anything I'd ever encountered, a way of contructing sentences that seemed at once earthy and punchy and the height of elegance and sophistication. How did she come to this?
Well, no good ranting, I suppose. The book isn't bad, it just seems like a golden opportunity wasted. Obviously the definitive Renault biography has yet to be written--but I suspect it never will be simply because Renault didn't wish to be uncovered. Apparently Sweetman interviewed her in '82. I've never seen the interview, but I suspect she said very little of a personal nature. I suspect she made a point of throughout her life of saying little of a personal nature.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful biography, August 9, 2000

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"silo1013" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mary Renault: A Biography (Harvest Book) (Paperback)

I've long been an admirer of Renault's novels; her muscular prose, idealistic philosphies, model heroes, and her affection for gay male characters have struck a very resonant chord in me. After reading Sweetman's biography, I am now very much an admirer of Renault herself: intelligent, talented, courageous and strong. Once she wrote to a friend, speaking about feminists and women in general [she had a lifelong distaste for women, a point on which I now find myself differing]: "..the truth obviously is that [they] do seem to have, as men, some extra reserve of neural strength, some capacity for sustained intensity and inner drive, which women do not possess. I will believe otherwise when given evidence," rather selling herself short, I think, by not recognizing that very intensity and drive in herself.

Highly recommended for any fan of Renault's.