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Dangerous Muse: The Life of Lady Caroline Blackwood
Lady Caroline Blackwood (1931-1996), with her wealth, fame, brilliance, eccentricity, dysfunction and illness, is an ideal subject for an absorbingly juicy (albeit tragic) biography. Perhaps best known for marrying painter Lucian Freud, then Aaron Copland's prize student Israel Citkowitz, then patrician poet Robert Lowell, the mysterious Blackwood, with her enormous, unflinching eyes, was "one of the great beauties of her day"; she was also a writer in her own right. Schoenberger (Girl on a White Porch), former director of the Academy of American Poets, never met Blackwood (the day of their proposed meeting, Blackwood was hospitalized and died soon thereafter). The author traces this troubled, fascinating life from a childhood on a grand family estate in Northern Ireland, through her marriages to brilliant yet tortured and unstable men, and then through widowhood, when Blackwood inhabited a former funeral home in Sag Harbor, on New York's Long Island, reputedly haunted still by her dark presence. Blackwood inspired her husbands' brilliant works such as Freud's photograph Girl in Bed (it was clutched by Lowell when he died of a heart attack) and Lowell's The Dolphin, dedicated to Caroline. But Schoenberger calls her "both a muse and an anti-muse," for she also undermined their creativity with her alcoholism and cruel wit, provoking their worst qualities, like Freud's gambling and womanizing, Citkowitz's passivity and Lowell's bipolar illness and abusiveness. Alternately vibrant and pathetic, Blackwood alienated and insulted everyone around her. Schoenberger targets the general reader over the scholar particularly with her exploration of Blackwood's "curse" but those interested in literary biography, particularly in the lives of artists and the sources of their creativity, will find relevant material here. Agents, Joy Harris and Leslie Daniels. 16 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. (July 3)Forecast: Though already chosen for the Wall Street Journal's summer reading list, with first serial rights sold to Vogue, this myth-making bio will have to show unexpected reach to appeal to a mass of readers. The author will do some regional publicity in New York and Washington, D.C.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
400 pages, Paperback
First published June 14, 2001
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697 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Schoenberger
15 books39 followersNancy Schoenberger is a professor of English and creative writing at the College of William and Mary. She is the author of Dangerous Muse: The Life of Lady Caroline Blackwood, and coauthor with her husband, Sam Kashner, of books on Oscar Levant, George Reeves, and the relationship between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. She lives in Williamsburg, Virginia.
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July 30, 2024My gosh....who wouldn't want to read this book with such a stunning cover?
The title has me immensely intrigued with the idea of the muse, this one woman a whisper forever perserved in the pages of literature.
The title has me immensely intrigued with the idea of the muse, this one woman a whisper forever perserved in the pages of literature.
November 18, 2019
I liked reading about Caroline Blackwood's gothic, parentless, childhood in an Irish mansion (her father was an earl and her nother a Guinness). I liked her living in (London) Soho in the 1940s, married to the painter Lucien Freud. From there on this book is a dark, bohemian, of course alcoholic, tour of the 20th century. Lived by rich arty people who of course know other significant rich arty people.
May 28, 2020
Lady Caroline Blackwood was well-known as a member of the British aristocracy and the Guinness family. She was admired for her uncommon beauty. She was celebrated as a journalist and novelist, and was even shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She was also notorious for her slovenly housekeeping as well as her biting, cruel wit. And for her alcoholism. Nancy Schoenberger shows that she fit the definition of muse--a woman, or a force personified as a woman, who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist--for at least 3 men: the painter Lucian Freud, her 1st husband, the poet Robert Lowell, her 3rd, and the photographer Walker Evans, who is thought to have been her lover.
Schoenberger's biography tells of a life of privilege famous for its eccentricity. To say she was a character would be a suitable description. She ran in highly artistic and intellectual circles, and her sometimes unconventional behavior may have been defensive measures meant to neutralize her feelings of inadequacy in certain social settings. Often she was what is called an awkward party.
The biography itself could be considered the life and times of Caroline Blackwood. Schoenberger writes at length about those around her and their work. Almost a third of the book is devoted to Caroline's growing up on her family's Northern Ireland estate and its surroundings, social and physical. The years of her marriage to Lucian Freud justified a dissection of the London art scene in the 1950s. Her marriage to Lowell called for lengthy critique of his background and status as one of America's leading poets. Blackwood's extended residences in Hollywood, Greenwich Village, and the fashionable eastern end of Long Island is fleshed out with detailed descriptions of their particular atmospheres and effects on her. At one point there's even the history of a pub.
I read Blackwood's biography because I'm currently reading the new edition of the Robert Lowell-Elizabeth Hardwick letters written during the turbulent 1970s when Lowell left his wife for Blackwood. I thought it'd be interesting to approach the Lowell-Blackwood-Hardwick triangle from another direction. But I gained little in information or perspective. Still, I enjoyed reading the life of this interesting woman.
Schoenberger's biography tells of a life of privilege famous for its eccentricity. To say she was a character would be a suitable description. She ran in highly artistic and intellectual circles, and her sometimes unconventional behavior may have been defensive measures meant to neutralize her feelings of inadequacy in certain social settings. Often she was what is called an awkward party.
The biography itself could be considered the life and times of Caroline Blackwood. Schoenberger writes at length about those around her and their work. Almost a third of the book is devoted to Caroline's growing up on her family's Northern Ireland estate and its surroundings, social and physical. The years of her marriage to Lucian Freud justified a dissection of the London art scene in the 1950s. Her marriage to Lowell called for lengthy critique of his background and status as one of America's leading poets. Blackwood's extended residences in Hollywood, Greenwich Village, and the fashionable eastern end of Long Island is fleshed out with detailed descriptions of their particular atmospheres and effects on her. At one point there's even the history of a pub.
I read Blackwood's biography because I'm currently reading the new edition of the Robert Lowell-Elizabeth Hardwick letters written during the turbulent 1970s when Lowell left his wife for Blackwood. I thought it'd be interesting to approach the Lowell-Blackwood-Hardwick triangle from another direction. But I gained little in information or perspective. Still, I enjoyed reading the life of this interesting woman.
Read
October 10, 2020A month ago I read WHY NOT SAY WHAT HAPPENED, a memoir by Blackwood's daughter Ivana Lowell, and was fascinated with the story of this complicated family. Found this biography and Blackwood's work online-- all out of print and nothing in the local library. Other reviewers have said that Blackwood herself seems oddly absent from this book and I tend to agree. Even the title places the emphasis on her role as "muse" rather than artist. Blackwood was both, and her impact is far-reaching. I was eager to understand more about her nature and her work. I still found it interesting-- especially on the heels of reading Ivana Lowell's book-- but it was difficult to get a sense of what Blackwood was like in the flesh, or what drove her behavior. I was dismayed to see several reviewers say they would not read her work due to what they learned in this bio. I've only read "Good Night, Sweet Ladies," a collection that mixes short fiction and non-fiction, and I was blown away by both theme and prose style. Ideally a book like this should make a case for an artist's body of work if that work is worthwhile, and it's disappointing that didn't happen here.
March 26, 2023
This isn’t a traditional biography… or really a biography *about* Blackwood but more about the artists, poets, family, eccentrics that inhabited her life. Blackwood, unfortunately, remains a one dimensional figure but it didn’t stop me from enjoying every moment of this because of her fascinating life. It sort of feels like reading a fairy tale about addiction and love and fame. Also, a surprise appearance of Julian Sands at the end was so great and the fact that Blackwood *adored* him was the cherry on top for me.
May 13, 2020
Caroline Blackwood is an author who - like herself - seems to have slipped through the cracks of major twentieth-century culture, emerging in this biography as an idiosyncratic, spoiled, soiled and wilful beautiful creature. A poor man’s Angela Carter, a Mick Jagger’s Marianne Faithfull - moneyed, aristocratic and prone to excesses.
It’s not that the biography is poor - it’s just disappointing. Schoenberger’s writing is balanced and thoughtful, but its subject matter ultimately becomes tedious and somewhat repetitious. Worse still, I don’t even feel particularly tempted by Blackwood’s work after immersing myself in her bleak and grungy life story. As she herself contends on Marianne Faithfull’s 1983 outing, ‘A Child’s Adventure’ - for which she contributed the lyrics to the final haunting track - ‘She’s Got a Problem.’
It’s not that the biography is poor - it’s just disappointing. Schoenberger’s writing is balanced and thoughtful, but its subject matter ultimately becomes tedious and somewhat repetitious. Worse still, I don’t even feel particularly tempted by Blackwood’s work after immersing myself in her bleak and grungy life story. As she herself contends on Marianne Faithfull’s 1983 outing, ‘A Child’s Adventure’ - for which she contributed the lyrics to the final haunting track - ‘She’s Got a Problem.’
July 4, 2011
This was a car-crash book...the kind of book where awful things happen throughout, so it's like watching a crash in slow motion. Caroline Blackwood was in no way a sympathetic character, and as much as her intelligence and beauty were extolled, I didn't find evidence to bolster the thesis. She was reportedly filthy. Her person was filthy, her homes were filthy, and she was apparently banned from several hotels in New York City due to her habit of making luxury rooms uninhabitable, with dog feces being the least of the problems. As a psychologist, the workings of her mind were somewhat entertaining to me, but her cruel treatment of her children, her sadistic and narcissistic treatment of friends and family, her unappealing behavior with lovers and husbands made reading her biography a really tough go. I don't know if I'll ever read any of her books to see how truly "brilliant" she was, and the photographs included did not back up claims of exquisite beauty. I would have expected more photos, and I have to say that the quality of the photos was terrible. Yikes.
May 3, 2016
Caroline Blackwood is fascinating, but unfortunately the author was left with little direct information about Blackwood compared to a wealth of interesting details on her husbands and friends. As such, you come away feeling that you know much more about Lucian Freud or Ivan Moffat, while Caroline Blackwood remains an enigma after 335 pages. Not very satisfying. It's especially frustrating that the author repeats so much information, presenting it as new, and there are multiple instances where she reuses the exact same quotes only chapters later. This book should be half the length and less about painting Caroline as "dangerous." She's tragic, even cursed possibly, but no more or less dangerous than anyone around her.
The book could double as a tome of eccentric names -- Doon, Perdita, Sheridan, Oonagh -- which is fun.
The book could double as a tome of eccentric names -- Doon, Perdita, Sheridan, Oonagh -- which is fun.
March 30, 2014
Caroline Blackwood seems to offer all the elements for a riveting, readable biography, but something happened to this book. It never came alive.
Despite my penchant for reading about the "high-life" this book was a crashing bore for me. Nancy Schoenberger failed to bring any spark to the character. If a person's life is compelling enough for an author and publisher to devote 350pp to, there should be a way to infuse life and energy into the narrative.
I struggled; then I strove; then I split.
Perhaps, it could have been more interesting to me if Schoenberger had more skill at creating a sense of place. It felt like she just filled the pages with one quotation after another and this reader never felt like she participated in Blackwood's life, even voyeuristically.
Very disappointing.
Despite my penchant for reading about the "high-life" this book was a crashing bore for me. Nancy Schoenberger failed to bring any spark to the character. If a person's life is compelling enough for an author and publisher to devote 350pp to, there should be a way to infuse life and energy into the narrative.
I struggled; then I strove; then I split.
Perhaps, it could have been more interesting to me if Schoenberger had more skill at creating a sense of place. It felt like she just filled the pages with one quotation after another and this reader never felt like she participated in Blackwood's life, even voyeuristically.
Very disappointing.
August 28, 2007
A very lucky find at Half Price Books. I found myself identifying with Caroline Blackwood and desperately wanting to read everything she'd ever written (and since reading it I have).
Although "Dangerous Muse" is actually a biographic piece I have classified it as a "gothic romance" because I feel the term adequately describes both the life and the works of Ms. Blackwood
Although "Dangerous Muse" is actually a biographic piece I have classified it as a "gothic romance" because I feel the term adequately describes both the life and the works of Ms. Blackwood
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December 21, 2011Here Nancy Schoenberger chronicles the life of an Anglo-Irish writer now remembered primarily for her unsettling beauty; her Guinness-derived fortune, which came along with a Kennedy-like family “curse”; and her famous—and famously difficult—husbands. Yet Blackwood’s marriages to painter Lucien Freud, composer Israel Citkowitz, and, most profoundly, poet Robert Lowell nonetheless comprise only part of her story, as Schoenberger’s excellent new biography makes clear.
Blackwood worked hard to add “Artist” to her title of “Muse,” and she was rewarded by seeing one of her novels short-listed for the Booker Prize. While none of Blackwood’s work is currently in print, Schoenberger’s compelling biography may well change that sad circumstance—one that seems all the sadder when one considers Blackwood’s death from alcoholism at the age of 64, having buried two husbands, her brother, and one of her daughters. Whether or not “the Guinness curse” played a part in these tragedies, they give some indication of the terrible price Blackwood paid to be—and to write—who she was.
And now a new chapter has been added to Blackwood's life, through her daughter's memoir, WHY NOT SAY WHAT HAPPENED? Ivana Lowell’s recent book--whose title comes from one of her stepfather’s most piercing lines--reminded me of a splendid monologue by the late Dixie Carter during her time on "Designing Women." “This is the South,” she says to a humorless lawyer. “And we're proud of our crazy people. We don't hide them up in the attic; we bring 'em right down to the living room and show 'em off. ...No one in the South ever asks if you have crazy people in your family, they just ask which side they're on." When asked which branch of her own family contained the crazy people, her character, the genteel but bitingly candid Julia Sugarbaker (the same last name that the late, Missouri-born Deborah Digges used before her first marriage), replies "Both" with sharp-edged but unmistakable triumph (http://www.wikio.com/video/crazy-peop...).
(originally published in the NASHVILLE SCENE / Village Voice Media)
Blackwood worked hard to add “Artist” to her title of “Muse,” and she was rewarded by seeing one of her novels short-listed for the Booker Prize. While none of Blackwood’s work is currently in print, Schoenberger’s compelling biography may well change that sad circumstance—one that seems all the sadder when one considers Blackwood’s death from alcoholism at the age of 64, having buried two husbands, her brother, and one of her daughters. Whether or not “the Guinness curse” played a part in these tragedies, they give some indication of the terrible price Blackwood paid to be—and to write—who she was.
And now a new chapter has been added to Blackwood's life, through her daughter's memoir, WHY NOT SAY WHAT HAPPENED? Ivana Lowell’s recent book--whose title comes from one of her stepfather’s most piercing lines--reminded me of a splendid monologue by the late Dixie Carter during her time on "Designing Women." “This is the South,” she says to a humorless lawyer. “And we're proud of our crazy people. We don't hide them up in the attic; we bring 'em right down to the living room and show 'em off. ...No one in the South ever asks if you have crazy people in your family, they just ask which side they're on." When asked which branch of her own family contained the crazy people, her character, the genteel but bitingly candid Julia Sugarbaker (the same last name that the late, Missouri-born Deborah Digges used before her first marriage), replies "Both" with sharp-edged but unmistakable triumph (http://www.wikio.com/video/crazy-peop...).
(originally published in the NASHVILLE SCENE / Village Voice Media)
August 15, 2014
There are so many gorgeous, haunting passages in this but here are some of my favorite:
Regarding Blackwood's book Corrigan, "And we come to see Nadine for what she is: a nay-saying malcontent who has ruined her life with bad choices. We are on Devina's side, willingly fooled."
Oooooh, I so want to read Corrigan now, but I feel like I already have after reading this book. I love the original take on a widow who is willingly, cheerfully drawn in by a con-man; and rather than being ruined by him, she is reborn.
And if anything captures the life and death of Blackwood it would be this passage, comparing her to an elm on page 328: "Have you ever seen the way an elm dies, Theresa? An elm doesn't die like other trees...An elm dies from the inside. An elm dies in secret."
Morbid and moving, this bio was amazing.
Regarding Blackwood's book Corrigan, "And we come to see Nadine for what she is: a nay-saying malcontent who has ruined her life with bad choices. We are on Devina's side, willingly fooled."
Oooooh, I so want to read Corrigan now, but I feel like I already have after reading this book. I love the original take on a widow who is willingly, cheerfully drawn in by a con-man; and rather than being ruined by him, she is reborn.
And if anything captures the life and death of Blackwood it would be this passage, comparing her to an elm on page 328: "Have you ever seen the way an elm dies, Theresa? An elm doesn't die like other trees...An elm dies from the inside. An elm dies in secret."
Morbid and moving, this bio was amazing.
July 6, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. I think in order to produce such talent as Lady Caroline's, one must be a little unhappy, crazy, battling deep rooted pain. I find her life enthralling as she was raised wealthy, was surrounded by very artistically talented people, yet could still find more bad than good in the world. She hated the word muse, which I found odd that the author used this in the title of the book. A muse is an understatement and an insult as to what Lady Caroline Blackwood was. Granted, her beauty, intelligence, and sophisticated wit served as a stimulus for lovers/ husbands in their professional endeavors. But, the word "muse" doesn't even recognize the personal accomplishments of vast intelligence such a beauty can create.
Having known nothing about Caroline Blackwood, this book drove me to check out her written works which are equally amazing and dark.
Having known nothing about Caroline Blackwood, this book drove me to check out her written works which are equally amazing and dark.
September 9, 2016
This book reads like a very long old fashioned gossip column crossed with a dramatic costume drama. I felt it was important to read about privilege in the way it is presented here. The author artfully draws the outline so the reader can fill in the color, no matter how ugly and depressing. It's funny that this book doesn't feel like it's about Caroline Blackwood, instead it details the persons around her. There is some great imagery here to balance out the dreary unnecessary details, but not enough.
May 30, 2019
It was a very interesting book. Felt a bit sad for her. It is always interesting to read lives of people who come from money. There is always a feeling their life is perfect. Usually one finds that is not so. I was interested in her to begin having been married to Lucian Freud, was about to begin reading "Breakfast with Lucian" but thought I would read her bio first. Glad I did. She was a talent in her one right ( writer) but troubled. Full on alcoholic. Hoping to reading her books- GREAT GRANNY WEBSTER,
April 4, 2014
Caroline Blackwood was a very interesting personality having been a Guinness heiress, married to both Lucian Freud and Robert Lowell, and a damn good writer herself. This book, while not shallow, is neither deeply penetrating nor enlightening about the human condition. A fine read, but, beyond literary and social history, not a must read.
June 29, 2017
This book missed the mark for me. It seemed to be more about the lovers & husbands of Caroline Blackwood rather than her. A genealogy table would have been helpful in untangling the complicated Guinness family.
November 4, 2016
Psycho. ;)
August 15, 2023
I came to this book after reading some of Caroline Blackwood's work, thoroughly enjoying her macabre style and approach.
However, this is not a biography about Blackwood, but rather about everyone but her. Schoenberger seems to focus mostly on those in Blackwood's life (and many who were barely part of it) instead of Blackwood herself.
The subtitle of this book is "The Life of Lady Caroline Blackwood" yet throughout this biography it felt as if Blackwood had been cast aside for favour of others that the author seemed more interested in. I repeatedly found myself traipsing through pages and pages without any mention of Blackwood at all. Despite how captivating and dynamic Blackwood was perceived by her contemporaries, this biography seemed totally uninterested in her.
Towards the end, there was eventually more focus on Blackwood herself which saved it a little, however Schoenberger's focus on those around her (particularly her husbands and partners) throughout the rest of the novel set her as anyone but the main character of her own biography, and made this a difficult and frustrating read.
However, this is not a biography about Blackwood, but rather about everyone but her. Schoenberger seems to focus mostly on those in Blackwood's life (and many who were barely part of it) instead of Blackwood herself.
The subtitle of this book is "The Life of Lady Caroline Blackwood" yet throughout this biography it felt as if Blackwood had been cast aside for favour of others that the author seemed more interested in. I repeatedly found myself traipsing through pages and pages without any mention of Blackwood at all. Despite how captivating and dynamic Blackwood was perceived by her contemporaries, this biography seemed totally uninterested in her.
Towards the end, there was eventually more focus on Blackwood herself which saved it a little, however Schoenberger's focus on those around her (particularly her husbands and partners) throughout the rest of the novel set her as anyone but the main character of her own biography, and made this a difficult and frustrating read.
December 11, 2023
I enjoyed this book in part because I like to read about the rich and famous, and partly because Nancy Schoenberger's writing is so liquid and readable.
Reading about Lady Caroline's world filled in the blanks about others in her circles who I have read about, in particular Lucian Freud and Ian Fleming.
This world, so different from my own, is fascinating to me, to read about the value system and cultural norms of this strata of society. Also interesting is learning about the details of this lifestyle at the time of history when Caroline was in her prime.
I was saddened to think about all of these privileged people and how they had so much and yet were denied the basics of a loving home with caring parents. And then to whatever degree, the consequent alcohol and drug abuse, and levels of poor mental health. What a mess!
Now keen to read other books by this author as well as Caroline's daughter's book about her life.
Reading about Lady Caroline's world filled in the blanks about others in her circles who I have read about, in particular Lucian Freud and Ian Fleming.
This world, so different from my own, is fascinating to me, to read about the value system and cultural norms of this strata of society. Also interesting is learning about the details of this lifestyle at the time of history when Caroline was in her prime.
I was saddened to think about all of these privileged people and how they had so much and yet were denied the basics of a loving home with caring parents. And then to whatever degree, the consequent alcohol and drug abuse, and levels of poor mental health. What a mess!
Now keen to read other books by this author as well as Caroline's daughter's book about her life.
October 3, 2025
At times this book feels chatty and meandering, including both anonymous hearsay and unverified gossip. It is hugely enjoyable, though it doesn’t always seem reliable. Midway through, I realized something else: it often circles around Caroline rather than letting her own voice emerge. Her friends, family, lovers, and husbands all speak for her. For such an interesting writer, she remains oddly silent amid all the quotes from men describing her woundedness.
Overall, it is a messy account and certainly not a happy one. It’s a wonder Caroline created anything at all, in between the breakdowns and the booze. By the end, the biography slips into a gawking tone, lingering on Caroline’s physical and social unraveling in a way that feels less like an attempt at understanding and more like voyeurism. Would it have benefited from more substantial research, or is this another example of one of those unknowable souls?
Notes
The idea of the muse incarnate declined in the second half of the past century as women's roles changed. It is contrary to modern feminism because it rests on the idea of being chosen, rather than being the one to choose: "Muses are passive, therefore passé." The curious thing is that Caroline would have agreed with the last statement; she rejected the idea of being amused. She was not really a feminist either… But she preferred to be the creator, not the inspirer … If Caroline hated being defined as a muse, who, then, was she? Part of the enigma of Caroline Blackwood is that she is described differently by the various people who knew her. (PG. 5)
In story after story, Bowen evoked the world of the Irish country house, usually tinged with a sense of nostalgia. Houses were forever being lost, mothers died, children were disinherited, sons gambled away the family fortune, furniture was auctioned off, and the great Georgian houses were sold and sometimes torn down… Capital What Bowen knew "was an Eden in the seconds after the apple has been eaten, when Evil was known, imminent and unavoidable, but while there was still awareness of what Innocence had been." (PG. 11)
The peace of the defeated (PG. 225)
Caroline answered with a subversive statement. She didn't really see the portrait as being her. "I think [one’s] beauty… is fraudulent," she said. "Nothing to do with you." It was a theme she had sounded in Good Night Sweet Ladies and one she deeply believed. (PG. 277-278)
A guest who had met Caroline at the Wintersteen dinner party in Prouts Neck wrote to Aronson afterward, "I enjoyed her presence. It was disturbing but exciting." Aronson said that the guest had gotten it exactly right: "Negative excitement" was just the sort of attraction that Caroline had to offer. (PG. 322)
Overall, it is a messy account and certainly not a happy one. It’s a wonder Caroline created anything at all, in between the breakdowns and the booze. By the end, the biography slips into a gawking tone, lingering on Caroline’s physical and social unraveling in a way that feels less like an attempt at understanding and more like voyeurism. Would it have benefited from more substantial research, or is this another example of one of those unknowable souls?
Notes
The idea of the muse incarnate declined in the second half of the past century as women's roles changed. It is contrary to modern feminism because it rests on the idea of being chosen, rather than being the one to choose: "Muses are passive, therefore passé." The curious thing is that Caroline would have agreed with the last statement; she rejected the idea of being amused. She was not really a feminist either… But she preferred to be the creator, not the inspirer … If Caroline hated being defined as a muse, who, then, was she? Part of the enigma of Caroline Blackwood is that she is described differently by the various people who knew her. (PG. 5)
In story after story, Bowen evoked the world of the Irish country house, usually tinged with a sense of nostalgia. Houses were forever being lost, mothers died, children were disinherited, sons gambled away the family fortune, furniture was auctioned off, and the great Georgian houses were sold and sometimes torn down… Capital What Bowen knew "was an Eden in the seconds after the apple has been eaten, when Evil was known, imminent and unavoidable, but while there was still awareness of what Innocence had been." (PG. 11)
The peace of the defeated (PG. 225)
Caroline answered with a subversive statement. She didn't really see the portrait as being her. "I think [one’s] beauty… is fraudulent," she said. "Nothing to do with you." It was a theme she had sounded in Good Night Sweet Ladies and one she deeply believed. (PG. 277-278)
A guest who had met Caroline at the Wintersteen dinner party in Prouts Neck wrote to Aronson afterward, "I enjoyed her presence. It was disturbing but exciting." Aronson said that the guest had gotten it exactly right: "Negative excitement" was just the sort of attraction that Caroline had to offer. (PG. 322)
October 22, 2021
See Lauri and James' reviews.
It'll be great when they come up with something on our DNA for alcoholism / addictions; wish it was sooner. But then people probably won't take it until it's mandated.
James and Lauri said it all. If Lady Blackwood hadn't been born into money, she would have either become a fairly good writer, or dead before 30. I had no sympathy for her. Pity the biographer didn't meet her when she was alive, but maybe Ms. Schoenberger couldn't have handled the total grossness of Ms. Blackwood's life. How she lived 'til 64 I'll never know.
It'll be great when they come up with something on our DNA for alcoholism / addictions; wish it was sooner. But then people probably won't take it until it's mandated.
James and Lauri said it all. If Lady Blackwood hadn't been born into money, she would have either become a fairly good writer, or dead before 30. I had no sympathy for her. Pity the biographer didn't meet her when she was alive, but maybe Ms. Schoenberger couldn't have handled the total grossness of Ms. Blackwood's life. How she lived 'til 64 I'll never know.
October 16, 2018
How a British debutante evolved from an 'it' girl to an alcohol-fueled writer to a wreck: three very celebrated husbands (who are less well known now) and a tragic and disfunctional anglo-irish family.
August 7, 2025
Great biography of an Irish Aristocrat
This is a great biography of a Cosmopolitan Irish woman from County Down in Northern Ireland---wife three famous artists: the,painter Lucian Freud, a composer and the urbane poet Robert Lowell. She was an alcoholic and muse.
This is a great biography of a Cosmopolitan Irish woman from County Down in Northern Ireland---wife three famous artists: the,painter Lucian Freud, a composer and the urbane poet Robert Lowell. She was an alcoholic and muse.
December 28, 2019
Abandoned at pg 176. Author has told me more about every man in the subject's life than the subject it seems.
August 23, 2020
For such an interesting life this was quite a grind to finish. Way too dry!
March 29, 2013
Sifting through the shelves of the labyrinthine Massolit antiquarian bookstore in Kraków, I found this book waiting for me, which would introduce me to the tormented but creative life of Lady Caroline Blackwood (1931–1996). We follow her from her glittering but not so happy childhood in Northern Ireland through a series of relationships with brilliant artists and poets in Europe and America, whom she was drawn to but perhaps unable to become attached to in a deeper sense. Often the one who broke up, like many leavers she did not like being left. She was profoundly aware of the precariousness of human life and was not spared the terrible experience of the death of one of her daughters under disconcerting circumstances. Still, a captivating personality, a legendary beauty and a gifted author, Caroline Blackwood transformed the life of people she met. In her literary work she was a keen observer of the psychology of human relationships with a conscious mind to the varying social milieus in which people form their lives. The 336-page long biography by Nancy Schoenberger is serious, respectful and penetrating. It recreates the Bohemian circles of which Caroline Blackwood was a part and introduces the reader to her many faceted work.
November 12, 2012
This is such a good biography. It was indeed a well-researched book. Job well done to author Nancy Schoenberger! I never failed in choosing this. My friend let me borrowed the book months ago. Caroline Blackwood is such a beauty, a personality and a genius in her own way. Being in a royal-blooded family is not just a privileged but also it is like being haunted by a curse, and that is what really happened to Lady Caroline. I so adore her beauty and loved looking at her striking photos. I just had a bit of confusion/conflict at the end part of the book. It has been said that Lady Caroline told Ivana (before her death) that her real father was Ivan Moffat. In the article Ivana Lowell wrote herself, she said that in the end, her mother didn't tell her the truth about her father, but she was left with a single clue and that is her name. Nevertheless, a good book to read for all who love biographies.
June 21, 2012
Disappointingly trite. Inspired to read more by Ms. Schoenberger after reading Furious Love but her repetitive style is magnified in this book. The leaden definitions of Blackwood's beauty and intellect leave the reader alternating between disbelief and boredom - no mean feat as the overall facts of her life should read like a bohemian epic. Photos do not convey the image of a great beauty - in fact they reinforce the slovenly shaky grip with hygiene that the author harps on about. The book seems to prove the title wrong. I doubt that was the author's intent.
August 28, 2008
This woman was a piece of work. Fabulous people, tragedy and alcoholism followed her throughout her life. However, besides losing her father at such a young age and being spurned by her mother there's not much there to explain her appeal other than her beauty, which in some photographs is questionable. It was interesting, but not very in depth into her character. Maybe part of her appeal is that she never let anyone get too in depth in her character.
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