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Sunflower
Never completed or previously published, Sunflower is a fictional record of a shattering period in West's the end of her lengthy relationship with H. G. Wells and her misdirected passion for the colorful Lord Beaverbrook. The novel's protagonist is Sybil "Sunflower" Fassendyll, actress and popular beauty of the 1920s, who leads a miserable private life despite wealth and fame. Insecure without male admiration, Sunflower struggles with the increasing aridity of her 10-year liaison with brilliant, married Lord Essington. At last she breaks with him in hopes of conventional happiness with Francis Pitt, a charismatic public figure. Here the plot stops, but West's outline confirms that Sunflower's romantic fortune would parallel her own. A fascinating psychological portrait of female anxiety.
288 pages
First published January 1, 1986
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178 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca West
143 books455 followersCicely Isabel Fairfield, known by her pen name Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, DBE was an English author, journalist, literary critic, and travel writer. She was brought up in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she attended George Watson's Ladies College.
A prolific, protean author who wrote in many genres, West was committed to feminist and liberal principles and was one of the foremost public intellectuals of the twentieth century. She reviewed books for The Times, the New York Herald Tribune, the Sunday Telegraph, and the New Republic, and she was a correspondent for The Bookman. Her major works include Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941), on the history and culture of Yugoslavia; A Train of Powder (1955), her coverage of the Nuremberg trials, published originally in The New Yorker; The Meaning of Treason, later The New Meaning of Treason, a study of World War II and Communist traitors; The Return of the Soldier, a modernist World War I novel; and the "Aubrey trilogy" of autobiographical novels, The Fountain Overflows, This Real Night, and Cousin Rosamund. Time called her "indisputably the world's number one woman writer" in 1947. She was made CBE in 1949, and DBE in 1959, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to British letters.
A prolific, protean author who wrote in many genres, West was committed to feminist and liberal principles and was one of the foremost public intellectuals of the twentieth century. She reviewed books for The Times, the New York Herald Tribune, the Sunday Telegraph, and the New Republic, and she was a correspondent for The Bookman. Her major works include Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941), on the history and culture of Yugoslavia; A Train of Powder (1955), her coverage of the Nuremberg trials, published originally in The New Yorker; The Meaning of Treason, later The New Meaning of Treason, a study of World War II and Communist traitors; The Return of the Soldier, a modernist World War I novel; and the "Aubrey trilogy" of autobiographical novels, The Fountain Overflows, This Real Night, and Cousin Rosamund. Time called her "indisputably the world's number one woman writer" in 1947. She was made CBE in 1949, and DBE in 1959, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to British letters.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 22, 2010
So no one else here has reviewed this book yet? I have to be the first? Oh, bother! ..
Sybil, whose pet-name is "Sunflower," is a 1920's, British stage actress. She's beautiful, blond, passive, and seemingly frivolous. We're told over and over again that she's stupid. But is she? One reviewer, whose name I didn't recognize, complained that Rebecca West couldn't live down to her creation. But, I think that misses the point of the novel. (In the absence of fellow goodreaders, I quibble with the book jacket). Sunflower isn't stupid. Her real problem is that she doesn't trust her own mind. She's too dependent on externals, particularly men. This all makes for an unlikely feminist novel, but West carries if off beautifully. She neither condones nor condemns. She shows without telling. The prose has that fresh, flowering quality you often find in 1920's literature, but West's style is all her own. Her genius is in the transitions. The narrative voice, which is half Sunflower, half omniscient narrator meanders in natural yet delightfully unexpected ways. I imagine this is how Regina Spektor would write if she were a novelist, but I digress. --This is a crappy review, but it's a brilliant book. All women (and men) should read it.
(Interestingly, Sunflower's boyfriend in the book is based on H.G. Wells who fathered Rebecca West's child and had an affair with another recent discovery of mine: Elizabeth von Arnim! It's a small world, indeed).
Sybil, whose pet-name is "Sunflower," is a 1920's, British stage actress. She's beautiful, blond, passive, and seemingly frivolous. We're told over and over again that she's stupid. But is she? One reviewer, whose name I didn't recognize, complained that Rebecca West couldn't live down to her creation. But, I think that misses the point of the novel. (In the absence of fellow goodreaders, I quibble with the book jacket). Sunflower isn't stupid. Her real problem is that she doesn't trust her own mind. She's too dependent on externals, particularly men. This all makes for an unlikely feminist novel, but West carries if off beautifully. She neither condones nor condemns. She shows without telling. The prose has that fresh, flowering quality you often find in 1920's literature, but West's style is all her own. Her genius is in the transitions. The narrative voice, which is half Sunflower, half omniscient narrator meanders in natural yet delightfully unexpected ways. I imagine this is how Regina Spektor would write if she were a novelist, but I digress. --This is a crappy review, but it's a brilliant book. All women (and men) should read it.
(Interestingly, Sunflower's boyfriend in the book is based on H.G. Wells who fathered Rebecca West's child and had an affair with another recent discovery of mine: Elizabeth von Arnim! It's a small world, indeed).
July 24, 2011
Rebecca West created a simply beautiful character in Sybil Fassendyll, the Sunflower of this novel. She is like many women who face the dual decisions of career and love life and make unhappy choices in at least one of those areas. Remarkably modern for a novel written in 1920, West manages to pull out lovely gems from the collection that is the character “Sunflower.” The character is a famously beautiful London stage actress, who travels in the circle of the powerful and connected. However, she looks at her professional life as a job, not a definition of who she is. One of most unique things about the character is that she seems to maintain an image of herself outside of the fame she holds, the fine things she owns, and the various types and classes of people in her life. She really examines her fellow humans: her chauffeur, her friends, the interesting and talented women she crosses paths with at parties and dinners, and, more futily, the men her life.
She faces the demise of a long-time, complicated, damaging relationship with a politician and turns with the hope of love to another equally powerful businessman. Victoria Glendenning, West’s biographer tells us that this novel is based upon West’s own life and relationships. Additionally, Glendinning suggests that Sybil is not necessarily Rebecca West, but possibly her alternate self. This may explain the many delicately described beliefs, ponderings, desires, and hopes of this sensitive character. Perhaps West was able to step aside from her personal pain and write of other tempting longings of a Rebecca who lay within her.
I truly admire West’s writing. She is an author I have read about and have looked forward to reading for some time. This is a touchingly warm narrative, which transcends well into the modern age.
She faces the demise of a long-time, complicated, damaging relationship with a politician and turns with the hope of love to another equally powerful businessman. Victoria Glendenning, West’s biographer tells us that this novel is based upon West’s own life and relationships. Additionally, Glendinning suggests that Sybil is not necessarily Rebecca West, but possibly her alternate self. This may explain the many delicately described beliefs, ponderings, desires, and hopes of this sensitive character. Perhaps West was able to step aside from her personal pain and write of other tempting longings of a Rebecca who lay within her.
I truly admire West’s writing. She is an author I have read about and have looked forward to reading for some time. This is a touchingly warm narrative, which transcends well into the modern age.
August 4, 2011
Being a largely autobiographical novel, Sunflower was fascinating for insights into women's roles of that era, and Rebecca West's involvement with H.G. Wells and Lord Beaverbrook. Wells was a brute, and Beaverbrook, a bit of a mystery as a lover, since West stopped writing the novel at a climactic point in their relationship. Her descriptions are poetic and engaging, even if sometimes rambling, but one certainly feels immersed in Sunflower's life. Looking at this book with modern eyes, one can't help urging her to be more self-confident, for she is definitely not the "stupid" person she claims to be throughout the novel. It is men - Wells in particular - who make her feel that way. But her observations of life and people are quite sophisticated and mature. It would have been interesting had West finished the novel after what appears to have been an abortive affair with Beaverbrook. But I think it reads well as it is.
May 29, 2019
This is an unfinished work, but I still found it enjoyable. Sunflower is a successful actress who has been having a long affair with Essington, an aging politician, when she meets Pitt, who seems based on Lord Beaverbrook (one of West's lovers). The book is an intimate look at the lives of women between the wars. The language is beautiful--quite often poetic. Some of the scenes are very memorable (for example, the scene with the hedgehog in the garden). Sunflower frequently refers to herself as "stupid," although clearly it is Essington who has conditioned her to feel that way about herself. On the contrary, she is successful and has her own beautiful and unique home. Rebecca West was a liberal feminist who had an affair with H.G. Wells as well as Beaverbrook. I haven't read much of her other work, but I plan to in the coming months. I'm also looking for a good biography.
February 8, 2025
This unfinished autobiographical novel is haunting. For Rebecca West, a strong and intelligent women, to be made to feel the way Sunflower does in the novel is a devastating picture of male/female relations. I would say in the time period, but no, it still persists to this day and I'm afraid, always will.
Yet, Sunflower feels that it would be more terrible to be alone than in an unsatisfactory relationship, even though for ten years Essington made her feel stupid and worthless, denigrating her and her profession at any chance.
"But she had not wanted to be free. What good was that? It had made her feel lonely and unreal. If nobody was fond of you, you wouldn't quite exist."
And this seems to be the crux of the issue. She heads into another relationship (which is not mentioned in the novel but is discussed in the afterword), but will this be just as humiliating for her?
Some may read Sunflower as being pathetic and weak, but she is a product of our society that, even now, is critical of strong, independent women.
Not much happens in this novel but the writing is beautiful.
Yet, Sunflower feels that it would be more terrible to be alone than in an unsatisfactory relationship, even though for ten years Essington made her feel stupid and worthless, denigrating her and her profession at any chance.
"But she had not wanted to be free. What good was that? It had made her feel lonely and unreal. If nobody was fond of you, you wouldn't quite exist."
And this seems to be the crux of the issue. She heads into another relationship (which is not mentioned in the novel but is discussed in the afterword), but will this be just as humiliating for her?
Some may read Sunflower as being pathetic and weak, but she is a product of our society that, even now, is critical of strong, independent women.
Not much happens in this novel but the writing is beautiful.
December 17, 2019
What a little masterpiece this is from Rebecca West. A tour de force study of human nature through the intense introspective emotional world of Sunflower. And all the more intriguing for being so largely autobiographical. The writing is so brilliant it overcame the unfinished nature of the 1920s manuscript.
At face value Sunflower appears to be a shallow selfish pleasure seeking beauty reacting to the whims of her emotions and desire for the two men in her life. Neither of whom, Lord Essington (HG Wells) or Francis Pitt (Lord Beaverbrook), come out of this in a very good light - insecure, bullying, cruel, selfish and domineering to name a few flaws. Whilst Sunflower is constantly treated as or referred to as stupid - which she most clearly isn't with her astute, often wickedly savage observations and her ability to manipulate and manage these two dark brooding and ultimately weak men.
A complex challenging thoroughly engaging book of its time yet still oddly relevant today. Sunflower is a resilient ray of sunshine.
At face value Sunflower appears to be a shallow selfish pleasure seeking beauty reacting to the whims of her emotions and desire for the two men in her life. Neither of whom, Lord Essington (HG Wells) or Francis Pitt (Lord Beaverbrook), come out of this in a very good light - insecure, bullying, cruel, selfish and domineering to name a few flaws. Whilst Sunflower is constantly treated as or referred to as stupid - which she most clearly isn't with her astute, often wickedly savage observations and her ability to manipulate and manage these two dark brooding and ultimately weak men.
A complex challenging thoroughly engaging book of its time yet still oddly relevant today. Sunflower is a resilient ray of sunshine.
August 28, 2021
I have to admit this book was a slog -- very dense prose, lots of meandering, fanciful daydreams, complex sentences and paragraphs. It was written in the 1920's, but not published until after the author's death years later. It is patently autobiographical, which is part of its appeal, and is unfinished. That would be incredibly frustrating if not for the fact that it was so autobiographical. The author's notes for the book showed most of the "rest of the story", and the author's life can reveal the rest of the rest. There is an afterward that is helpful. The book is fascinating in many ways other than the thinly disguised story of some well-known people. The society, the customs, the clothing, meals, servants, classism of early 20th Century London provide an historical setting for the prose. This is not a fast read by any definition, but I found it worth the effort.
March 31, 2025
this novel is so feminine and dreamy. the prose is excellent and gorgeous. I wish it was finished, but, based on the afterword, I think I would be sadder with whatever ending finishing it would have led to.
November 21, 2018
Not a fan of this book. Sentences were too long and paragraphs ran on for pages. The only reason I finished the book was because I never not finish a book no matter how bad it is.
January 26, 2011
I feel that I so very often know major plot points of justly famous classics before I read them -- for example, I knew Anna Karenina's fate before I read the book and so it came to me as no surprise (I think I just picked it up by osmosis, I suppose)-- that when I read a book about which I know nothing, I try, within reason, to shield myself from unwanted spoilers by refusing to read the blurbs on the dust jacket until after I'm done with the book. I picked up Rebecca West's Sunflower because I've read and enjoyed two other books by Ms. West, but deliberately averted my eyes from the dust jacket. Alas! Perhaps I should have read it -- it would have told me that the book was unfinished! How disappointing to be let down abruptly on the last page! But beyond that, the book was very well-written and well worth reading even though unfinished.
Ms. West writes from the point of view of "Sunflower" (Sybil Fassendyll), a famous although not yet particularly talented actress. Sunflower has been in a relationship for 10 years with a man she loves, the rather mean-spirited and already-married Lord Essington. On the account of the illness of one of Lord Essington's oldest friends, Sunflower and Lord Essington end up spending significant amounts of time with a self-made man called Francis Pitt. Sunflower falls out of love with Lord Essington and in love with Mr. Pitt. And this book brilliantly captures the breathless stirrings of new love -- the bliss, the wonder, and the awe that attend it -- as well as the guilt and pain accompanying the falling-out of love and the sheer relief when it is done.
Lord Essington's mean-spiritedness is never so much to the front as in his dealings with Sunflower, and particularly in his condemnation of her as stupid. Sunflower accepts his condemnation of her without question and indeed repeats it and characterizes her own self as stupid. But Ms. West's writing of Sunflower's internal monologue makes clear that Sunflower's "stupidity" about which Essington is so meanly derisive is nothing more than ignorance of subjects outside Sunflower's chosen sphere. Sunflower shows herself to be extremely perceptive and highly skilled at analysing her own observations and drawing conclusions -- something that "stupid" people, including Lord Essington, can not do. She also, near the end of this unfinished novel, is able to draw on her own experiences in a way that she never had heretofore done and produces some quite remarkable and feeling acting performances.
The "plot" in this novel is nearly all internal: Sunflower thinks this, Sunflower thinks that, Sunflower realizes such-and-such. But, do you know, I think women in the 20th century (more so than men!) underwent such dramatic upheavals -- in society, in work, in rights, in position, and in thought as well -- that such a novel, a novel of the mind, may be the best depiction of one woman undergoing her own personal upheavals.
Ms. West writes from the point of view of "Sunflower" (Sybil Fassendyll), a famous although not yet particularly talented actress. Sunflower has been in a relationship for 10 years with a man she loves, the rather mean-spirited and already-married Lord Essington. On the account of the illness of one of Lord Essington's oldest friends, Sunflower and Lord Essington end up spending significant amounts of time with a self-made man called Francis Pitt. Sunflower falls out of love with Lord Essington and in love with Mr. Pitt. And this book brilliantly captures the breathless stirrings of new love -- the bliss, the wonder, and the awe that attend it -- as well as the guilt and pain accompanying the falling-out of love and the sheer relief when it is done.
Lord Essington's mean-spiritedness is never so much to the front as in his dealings with Sunflower, and particularly in his condemnation of her as stupid. Sunflower accepts his condemnation of her without question and indeed repeats it and characterizes her own self as stupid. But Ms. West's writing of Sunflower's internal monologue makes clear that Sunflower's "stupidity" about which Essington is so meanly derisive is nothing more than ignorance of subjects outside Sunflower's chosen sphere. Sunflower shows herself to be extremely perceptive and highly skilled at analysing her own observations and drawing conclusions -- something that "stupid" people, including Lord Essington, can not do. She also, near the end of this unfinished novel, is able to draw on her own experiences in a way that she never had heretofore done and produces some quite remarkable and feeling acting performances.
The "plot" in this novel is nearly all internal: Sunflower thinks this, Sunflower thinks that, Sunflower realizes such-and-such. But, do you know, I think women in the 20th century (more so than men!) underwent such dramatic upheavals -- in society, in work, in rights, in position, and in thought as well -- that such a novel, a novel of the mind, may be the best depiction of one woman undergoing her own personal upheavals.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2012
Oursin has been talking about Dame Rebbecca since I've known her and I've been really curious to read her work. I discovered a bunch of her novels in the Crouch End Oxfam and ended up picking this one as it was an autobiographical account of her relationship with H.G. Wells, and as I'd recently read (and not been that impressed with) his book on his relationship with her, I though it would be an interesting counterpart. This was the first book I think I'd ever read that had me tearing up by p. 16. I guess being somewhat familiar with the people behind the characters brought a kind of closeness much quicker than a book with new characters. The criticism I read of this book complained that while Sunflower was supposed to be stupid, she wasn't. But I don't think Sunflower was stupid at all, I think she saw herself as stupid because she wasn't really valued by the people around her. The way she wrote seemed just full of self esteem issues, constantly comparing herself unfavorably to others, thinking if she could just get with the right man she'd be happy and complete. The writing style was great, while not in the first person it seemed like a total stream of consciousness from Sunflower, what she was thinking, how she'd get distracted when bored, and her wonderful insights into the people around her. It reminded me a little of Kerouac's style, though the subject matter was the total opposite. The story itself lacks much of a plot. Rather it's a series of scenes, mostly dinners, between the main characters. But it remains interesting thanks to Sunflower's commentaries on the situations. I have to say the men in this book come off as quite hideous. The HG character is pompous and a bit dull, Sunflower's criticisms of him and his world view are very biting and amusing though. I have to say as much as I love HG Wells, I loved to see him taken apart like this. The man Sunflower is pursuing Pitt, is also repulsive and rather uninteresting and you can tell as much as Sunflower idolises him she'd be no better off with him than she is with Wells. I really did enjoy this book and think I will definitely be getting more by her, and reading the book of her non-fiction writing that has been sitting on my shelf these past few months!
January 4, 2011
I have mixed feelings about this book. Some parts of the narrative were so beautiful and I could definitely see Rebecca West's talent shining through. But I didn't really enjoy it that much. I can't pinpoint why exactly. (n.b. I loved her book "The Fountain Overflows".)
Also, I didn't think Sunflower was that stupid though all the characters (especially herself) kept insisting she was. She behaved in an idiotic manner at times but don't we all?
(This is surely not a very good review. Usually I wouldn't even mind but the fact that this is only the second review makes the fact so very glaring!)
Also, I didn't think Sunflower was that stupid though all the characters (especially herself) kept insisting she was. She behaved in an idiotic manner at times but don't we all?
(This is surely not a very good review. Usually I wouldn't even mind but the fact that this is only the second review makes the fact so very glaring!)
September 17, 2011
This book was written in the mid-1920's and published posthumously in 1986. It is pure Rebecca West in acerbity and incisive observation. It is clearly written out of incredible frustration caused by her relationship with H.G.Wells. It is equally frustrating for the reader, because the work was never finished and her description of the protagonist (herself but the opposite of her) is so harsh. As social commentary, it is interesting and damning. Well worth reading.
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