E. Nesbit;: A biography,

by Doris Langley Moore

E. Nesbit, a Biography, Revised with New Material

Genres: Biography

313 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Doris Langley Moore OBE (1902–1989) also known as Doris Langley-Levy Moore, was one of the first important female fashion historians. She founded the Fashion Museum, Bath, (as The Museum of Costume) in 1963. She was also a well-respected Lord Byron scholar, and author of a 1940s ballet, The Quest. As a result of these wide-ranging interests, she had many connections within fashionable, intellectual, artistic and theatrical circles.

(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Mahjong_kid · Rating 2 out of 5]

As one who typically enjoys biographies, I was excited to run across this one of E. Nesbit, whom I've long loved as an author. However, I think that Moore's introduction to this edition - in which she talked about the information that she'd added since the first edition of the book - was the most interesting, somewhat unbiased part of the book. Maybe that's because she was a more seasoned writer at that point. As for the biography itself, I became more bored the farther I dragged myself through it. While I was interested in reading excerpts of letters from Nesbit's famous friends and contemporaries and in hearing the memories of those who knew her well, I felt that Moore tried to include so much material that was extraneous to a biography. She wandered into character sketches that meandered around Nesbit's timeline, leaving me muddled about when certain events actually occurred; and she rarely punctuated her stories with actual dates. She painted broad pictures of Nesbit's habits, family life, experiences, and relationships, yet she rarely delved into particulars. In spite of the wealth of first-hand information Moore seemed to have accumulated, I was left with the impression that she didn't feel like she knew her subject intimately at the end of her research - though she was more than willing to spend a number of pages critiquing Nesbit's writing, harping on Nesbit's "misguided" opinion that her poetry should have been her real triumph as writer. Ultimately, I was so disappointed. I think it could have been a good biography, if only the author hadn't been so distracted by her own opinions and had focused on presenting Nesbit herself - as a real, living woman - to the reader.

[Deborah Siddoway · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is only worth reading as an introduction to Edith Nesbit, and for an appreciation of how far scholarship (and feminism) has come since it was written. Far too forgiving of the gaslighting and manipulation of Nesbit's husband Hubert Bland, and skimming over some of the more scandalous aspects of her life, the biography, to some extent, excuses and whitewashes her marital challenges.

Julia Briggs's biography takes it further, but I feel that a more modern writer should tackle a newer biography, and really explore the impact of her husband's infidelity and the death of her children, particularly her son Fabian.

As one of the most popular children's authors in recent history, I feel that she deserves this kind of attention.