A Ring of Conspirators: Henry James and His Literary Circle, 1895-1915 [Hardcover]

Miranda Seymour (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1988

An account of how the great American writer Henry James, author of "The Turn of the Screw" and "The Bostonians" among many others, attracted the literary fraternity of his age to his house in Rye, Sussex. His visitors included H.G.Wells, Stephen Crane, Ford Madox Ford and Joseph Conrad. Miranda Seymour is a literary reviewer for the London "Evening Standard" and the "TLS". She was written several children's books and novels including "Carrying On".

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Henry James left London in 1897 to spend the last two decades of his life in the southeastern corner of England. His neighbors in East Sussex included H. G. Wells, Stephen Crane, Ford Madox Ford, Joseph Conrad. In her intriguing portrait gallery, British author Seymour aims to cut through "the mass of evasions . . . and misrepresentations" about their relationships to which James contributed. She finds that James was cruelly patronizing to protege Wells and to Conrad; that he was annoyed by Ford, an incorrigible romancer; that he envied his rich friend Edith Wharton for her wide readership; that he snubbed Cora Taylor, Crane's lover, after she fled the U.S. when her railway-conductor husband was found guilty of murder. Seymour, a descendant of James's close friend, the novelist Howard Sturgis, records how James's critiques of fellow writers often amounted to annihilation. She chronicles his infatuations with handsome young men, including sculptor Hendrik Andersen and poet Rupert Brooke. Photos.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This is neither conventional literary biography nor criticism. Seymour, who has written several works of fiction (e.g., Medea , LJ 5/15/82), is primarily interested in telling a story--and the story is an interesting one to tell. The "Rye mafia," as they have been called, consisted of predominantly non-British writers and centered on Henry James, who spent the last couple of decades of his life at Lamb House, Rye. Others of this group included H.G. Wells, Stephen Crane, Ford Madox Ford, Joseph Conrad, and W.H. Hudson. Seymour uses letters and published works to re-create the uneasy alliance of writers and personalities. Appropriate for most academic libraries and public libraries with strong literature collections.
- John Budd, Graduate Lib. Sch., Univ. of Arizona, Tucson
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd; First Edition edition (September 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340332395
• ISBN-13: 978-0340332399
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,433,830 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)