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Seducers in Ecuador and The Heir
Two short novels tell the tales of Arthur Lomax, whose life is alarmingly transformed by a pair of blue spectacles, and Peregrine Chase, whose life is beautifully transformed by a Tudor house he inherits
110 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1924
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About the author
Vita Sackville-West
130 books483 followersNovels of British writer Victoria Mary Sackville-West, known as Vita, include
The Edwardians
(1930) and
All Passion Spent
(1931).
This prolific English author, poet, and memoirist in the early 20th century lived not so privately.
While married to the diplomat Harold Nicolson, she conducted a series of scandalous amorous liaisons with many women, including the brilliant Virginia Woolf. They had an open marriage. Both Sackville-West and her husband had same-sex relationships. Her exuberant aristocratic life was one of inordinate privilege and way ahead of her time. She frequently traveled to Europe in the company of one or the other of her lovers and often dressed as a man to be able to gain access to places where only the couples could go. Gardening, like writing, was a passion Vita cherished with the certainty of a vocation: she wrote books on the topic and constructed the gardens of the castle of Sissinghurst, one of England's most beautiful gardens at her home.
She published her first book Poems of East and West in 1917. She followed this with a novel, Heritage, in 1919. A second novel, The Heir (1922), dealt with her feelings about her family. Her next book, Knole and the Sackvilles (1922), covered her family history. The Edwardians (1930) and All Passion Spent (1931) are perhaps her best known novels today. In the latter, the elderly Lady Slane courageously embraces a long suppressed sense of freedom and whimsy after a lifetime of convention. In 1948 she was appointed a Companion of Honour for her services to literature. She continued to develop her garden at Sissinghurst Castle and for many years wrote a weekly gardening column for The Observer. In 1955 she was awarded the gold Veitch medal of the Royal Horticultural Society. In her last decade she published a further biography, Daughter of France (1959) and a final novel, No Signposts in the Sea (1961).
She died of cancer on June 2, 1962.
This prolific English author, poet, and memoirist in the early 20th century lived not so privately.
While married to the diplomat Harold Nicolson, she conducted a series of scandalous amorous liaisons with many women, including the brilliant Virginia Woolf. They had an open marriage. Both Sackville-West and her husband had same-sex relationships. Her exuberant aristocratic life was one of inordinate privilege and way ahead of her time. She frequently traveled to Europe in the company of one or the other of her lovers and often dressed as a man to be able to gain access to places where only the couples could go. Gardening, like writing, was a passion Vita cherished with the certainty of a vocation: she wrote books on the topic and constructed the gardens of the castle of Sissinghurst, one of England's most beautiful gardens at her home.
She published her first book Poems of East and West in 1917. She followed this with a novel, Heritage, in 1919. A second novel, The Heir (1922), dealt with her feelings about her family. Her next book, Knole and the Sackvilles (1922), covered her family history. The Edwardians (1930) and All Passion Spent (1931) are perhaps her best known novels today. In the latter, the elderly Lady Slane courageously embraces a long suppressed sense of freedom and whimsy after a lifetime of convention. In 1948 she was appointed a Companion of Honour for her services to literature. She continued to develop her garden at Sissinghurst Castle and for many years wrote a weekly gardening column for The Observer. In 1955 she was awarded the gold Veitch medal of the Royal Horticultural Society. In her last decade she published a further biography, Daughter of France (1959) and a final novel, No Signposts in the Sea (1961).
She died of cancer on June 2, 1962.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 29, 2011
These two small, delightful novellas expose the fact that Vita Sackville-West's writing is very happily (for me) reminiscent of Jane Austen, in that she has a sharp eye for people's behaviour and in that nothing much actually happens in either story, which is a very Austenesque trait. Sackville-West's gentle, wry, almost dark sense of humour is another aspect that reminds me of Austen, displayed most obviously in Seducers In Ecuador in which Arthur Lomax's life is alarmingly transformed by a pair of blue spectacles. In the second novella, The Heir, Peregrine Chase, finds his life is beautifully transformed by a Tudor house that he inherits and, quite literally, falls in love with.
If you've never read Vita Sackville-West, these two novellas are a wonderful way into her particular style of writing.
This book has recently been reissued in digital format in the UK as part of the Bello imprint at Pan Macmillan, the aim of which is to bring lost, out-of-print popular classics to the attention of 21st century readers. Check out some of their forthcoming authors here: http://www.panmacmillan.com/Imprints/...
If you've never read Vita Sackville-West, these two novellas are a wonderful way into her particular style of writing.
This book has recently been reissued in digital format in the UK as part of the Bello imprint at Pan Macmillan, the aim of which is to bring lost, out-of-print popular classics to the attention of 21st century readers. Check out some of their forthcoming authors here: http://www.panmacmillan.com/Imprints/...
August 3, 2016
Alright, if you're in the position of having to read a novel by Vita, this is a nice two-for-one that contains some up and some down, like a choco-vanilla swirly soft-serve cone where one side has also been dipped in chili oil.
This Virago edition contains two novellas. I liked The Heir better than the other one because it has a charmingly doofy quality about it.
Seducers has a creepy factor because you know from the get-go that the guy with the glasses is going to gallows dammit, and though I read it years ago, my recollection is that his end was a bit unfair. If you must read a downward spiral that ends badly, here you go. The writing of course is nice.
Maybe I shouldn't be reviewing books decades after reading them.
This Virago edition contains two novellas. I liked The Heir better than the other one because it has a charmingly doofy quality about it.
Seducers has a creepy factor because you know from the get-go that the guy with the glasses is going to gallows dammit, and though I read it years ago, my recollection is that his end was a bit unfair. If you must read a downward spiral that ends badly, here you go. The writing of course is nice.
Maybe I shouldn't be reviewing books decades after reading them.
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August 9, 2011I read The Heir. I doubt I shall be reading any more Sackville West! It's not that she can't string words together; it just seemed horribly predictable and cliched, and the characteristion didn't quite ring true.
July 26, 2016
Tiny pair of novellas, but interesting nonetheless. Neither is entirely realistic, but the descriptive passages are particularly evocative. Between the two, preferred The Heir - seemed like it offered a better window into the characters - but a pleasant, quick read overall.
April 2, 2022
These are two dissimilar novellas combined into one volume. In Seducers in Ecuador (1925), Arthur Lomax finds his life changed when he begins to wear colored spectacles during a visit to Egypt. Sackville-West is such a skilled writer that I was riveted, despite having the ending revealed early on by the author.* I simply had to know how Lomax would end up where he did.
In The Heir (1922), Peregrine Chase inherits the family home, and visits it for the first time. He slowly falls in love with the house, despite knowing he must sell it. Again, Sackville-West is so talented, that at about the half-way point, I was desperate to know if he would keep the house, and had to turn to the last page to see.
While quite different in plot, they are both deeply revealing character studies that are beautifully written and immensely satisfying.
In The Heir (1922), Peregrine Chase inherits the family home, and visits it for the first time. He slowly falls in love with the house, despite knowing he must sell it. Again, Sackville-West is so talented, that at about the half-way point, I was desperate to know if he would keep the house, and had to turn to the last page to see.
While quite different in plot, they are both deeply revealing character studies that are beautifully written and immensely satisfying.
November 10, 2024
These were stories concerned with Modernist issues, but written in not-high-modernist style. The first story was my favourite, it is kind of a fable-like story about someone who can't discern from fantasy and reality. Pretty straightforward, but I think there is enough under the surface. 'The Heir' concerns a man who falls into inheriting a massive Elizabethan estate. He grows sentimental and falls in love with the place, eventually leaving his fast-paced modern life.
Vita Sackville-West is a pretty conservative writer both in style and subject. Her work is grounded in an upper class life and a rejection of modernity. She expresses an anxiety around the scary, fast, impersonal, un-feeling modern world; a world she doesn't want to live in. The narrative voice is fun to read however, it is solid witty, posh(?), modernist writing.
Vita Sackville-West is a pretty conservative writer both in style and subject. Her work is grounded in an upper class life and a rejection of modernity. She expresses an anxiety around the scary, fast, impersonal, un-feeling modern world; a world she doesn't want to live in. The narrative voice is fun to read however, it is solid witty, posh(?), modernist writing.
October 8, 2020
Two short stories by Vita Sackville West. The first The Seducers in Ecuador the the story of Lomax and the odd effects of wearing colored glasses. Sackville-West said the story was written as a joke and does contain some weird humor or even some of Camus' absurdism. The story's end is told at the beginning and then recreates the events that lead to the end.
The second story, The Heir concerns Mr. Chase, a city man, whose aunt, a country woman, dies and and leaves him the family land and mansion. The property is in debt and is scheduled to be auctioned off. The story turns into what can only be called a love story between a man and a house. Or, more probably Sackville-West's lament over losing her Knole House, the place of her birth, to a male cousin.
The second story, The Heir concerns Mr. Chase, a city man, whose aunt, a country woman, dies and and leaves him the family land and mansion. The property is in debt and is scheduled to be auctioned off. The story turns into what can only be called a love story between a man and a house. Or, more probably Sackville-West's lament over losing her Knole House, the place of her birth, to a male cousin.
February 11, 2019
One of these tales is not quite like the other. Sackville-West brings us into a very strange mind when she introduces Lomax in 'Seducers in Ecuador'. Lomax himself is necessarily weird but the circumstances that he ends up in and the way that Sackville-West approaches it is a little strange. The fact that on pretty much the 3rd page she half reveals facts that seem out of place leads the reader down a rabbit hole of presumptions and misconceptions. 'The Heir' on the other hand is more of an evocation of nostalgia for a certain kind of world. One where the delusion of wealth and peace are completely tied up in Peregrine Chase's family home, Blackboys. The plot revolves around an inheritance that has unseen consequences on his previously work orientated life. Each evocation of the old life that Chase steps into is wonderful and sets the reader longing to lead such a life. The final scene in particular holds everything in suspense until almost the last sentence.
January 16, 2025
Neither of these short novellas engaged me. The first is about three rich people on a yacht where murder ensues. The second story is about a middle-class insurance man who inherits an estate which opens his mind to beauty and tradition. Even though both of these stories were short, I felt like I knew where they were going from the beginning, and I couldn't wait to be done with them.
February 16, 2021
'Seducers in Ecuador' is a rather peculiar story.
August 25, 2021
Absolutely 5 stars for The Heir. What a beautiful story about belonging, finding roots, family and the most beautiful descriptions for places and gardens.
April 21, 2022
Interesting short pieces. Seducers in Ecuador foreshadowed later works by Camus in some ways. Although any connection unlikely I think.
June 9, 2024
Entertaining pair of stories about clueless, empty men.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews