The Tragic Bride (Dodo Press) [Paperback]

Francis Brett Young (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2009

Francis Brett Young (1884-1954) was an English novelist, poet, and composer. His first published novel Deep Sea (1914) has Brixham as a background while Portrait of Clare (1927) is set in the West Midlands, as are several of his works from this period. The Iron Age (1916) is set partly in Ludlow, Shropshire. The central project of Brett Young's career was a series of linked novels set in a loosely fictionalised version of the English West Midlands and Welsh Borders. The Mercian novels were originally inspired by the construction of Birmingham Corporation's Elan Valley Reservoirs from 1893-1904, and the country traversed by their associated aqueduct. The Black Diamond (1921) tells the story of a labourer working on the aqueduct in the region around Knighton, while The House Under the Water (1932) deals at length with the construction of the reservoirs themselves. Although linked by recurring characters, each of the Mercian novels can be read as an independent work. They range in style from the atmospheric psychological horror of Cold Harbour (1924) to the romantic family saga of Portrait of Clare (1927), which won that year's James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Francis Brett Young was born in 1884 at Halesowen, Worcestershire. He read Medicine at Birmingham University before entering general practice at Brixham in 1907. Brett Young served in East Africa in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War I and his experiences are recorded in Marching on Tanga. After the war he and his wife went to live in Capri where a number of novels with African, as well as English, backgrounds were produced. They then returned to England and settled in Worcestershire. During this period he was at the height of his fame and annually produced novels were eagerly awaited. During the Second World War, Brett Young laboured on The Island, his long poem covering the spread of English history from prehistoric times. It was published in 1944 and regarded by him as his greatest achievement. Following a breakdown in his health, the Brett Youngs moved to South Africa, where he died in 1954. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Dodo Press (February 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1409919579
• ISBN-13: 978-1409919575
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

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