Mary Oliver: A Life

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Mary Oliver: A Life
Authors and Contributors      By (author) May Sinclair
Introduction by Jean Radford
SeriesVirago Modern Classics
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:384
Dimensions(mm): Height 202,Width 126
Category/GenreModern and contemporary fiction (post c 1945)
ISBN/Barcode 9780860681052
ClassificationsDewey:823.91
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Imprint Virago Press Ltd
Publication Date 14 April 1980
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Born in 1865, Mary Olivier is the youngest of four children. Mamma dominates this Victorian household, idolising the boys, rejecting the independent love of her only daughter: the archetype of all women who control by weakness and suffering. Mary adores her mother- and she hates her. Ferociously intelligent, she vacillates between a passionate quest for her own artistic and sexual identity. This is one of the first novels ever written about a mother and daughter relationship, and the eternal conflict engendered by the deepest of ties. But it is a celebration too: for though Mary sacrifices her life- and her lover- to the demands of duty, she emerges victorious, finding in the discovery of her intellectual and feminine self an inner freedom, a perfect happiness.

Author Biography

Born in Liverpool in 1863, May Sinclair had no formal education until the age of 18. She worked with Cicely Hamilton and Violet Hunt for the Suffragist cause and wrote a total of 24 novels in addition to philosophical works, poetry and criticism. She died in 1932.

Reviews

'A multi-levelled, absorbing, fiercely passionate story from a wonderfully gifted writer.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY