What do you think?
Rate this book
The Spring House
It is 1915, and Miranda Gray is spending the war on the other side of the Atlantic to her Canadian husband. Staying with her eccentric relatives and young son at her family’s stately home, Star Cross, Miranda struggles to find her wartime role. Is she the stoic wife of a distant military man, the duty-bound nurse, the promiscuous society hostess, reluctant muse to a pacifist poet, a mother, a sister, a daughter, or some amalgamation of all? Gradually, as the war brings death and destruction to those closest to her, Miranda is offered a glimpse of something beyond these stilted roles – a chance at real love.
The Spring House artfully balances humour and devastation; at once a deftly written psychological portrait and a social document revealing the slow birth of the twentieth century and the new woman.
The Spring House artfully balances humour and devastation; at once a deftly written psychological portrait and a social document revealing the slow birth of the twentieth century and the new woman.
- GenresFiction
291 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1936
About the author
Cynthia Asquith
83 books33 followersLady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Asquith was an English writer, now known for her ghost stories and diaries. She also wrote novels and edited a number of anthologies, as well as writing for children and on the British Royal family.
Her father was Hugo Richard Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss (1857 – 1937) and her mother Mary Constance Wyndham (see The Souls). In 1910, she married Herbert Asquith, son of H. H. Asquith, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916.
In 1913 she met D.H. Lawrence in Margate, and became a friend and correspondent.
Her father was Hugo Richard Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss (1857 – 1937) and her mother Mary Constance Wyndham (see The Souls). In 1910, she married Herbert Asquith, son of H. H. Asquith, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916.
In 1913 she met D.H. Lawrence in Margate, and became a friend and correspondent.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
July 28, 2026
(4.5 stars)
Part war-torn love story, part character study, part portrayal of a young woman’s life on the home front, The Spring House is another brilliant entry in the British Library Women Writers series – in fact, I think it’s one of the most absorbing and accomplished novels in the collection so far.
First published in 1936, The Spring House is one of only two novels by Lady Cynthia Asquith, whose writing encompassed diaries, royal biographies and children’s books. She was also the daughter-in-law of the Liberal politician Herbert Henry Asquith, Britain’s Prime Minister from 1908 to 1916. While the book came out at a time of rising political tensions across Europe, it takes as its setting an earlier conflict – that of WWI and its impact on those who remained in Britain. The novel deftly combines social comedy with emotional perceptiveness, and we also see how war changes people, focusing predominantly on the upper-class milieu. There are also some excellent insights into the traumatic fallout from conflict on the battlefield, touching on loss, crippling grief and debilitating shell shock. It’s an excellent and immersive story, elegantly expressed.
Opening in May 1915 and closing in April 1919, The Spring House spans four years in the life of its central protagonist, Miranda Gray, a twenty-two-year-old British woman from a privileged background. Before the war, Miranda and her husband, Leonard, had been living in Canada, where Leonard remained stationed following the outbreak. However, when the war began, Miranda, accompanied by her four-year-old son, Pat, happened to be visiting her mother at Star Cross, the family’s grand country home in England. Now Miranda and Pat have been in Britain for ten months, ostensibly because Leonard is worried about the risk of them being attacked by submarines during their return crossing to Canada. Meanwhile, Star Cross has been turned into an auxiliary hospital, and Miranda’s mother, Mrs Moore, is heavily involved in its day-to-day management.
On the surface, Miranda comes across as rather self-absorbed, someone who thrives on admiration as confirmation of her value to others. Her feelings towards Leonard are those of loyalty and affection, not passion and desire. At seventeen, she had fallen in love with the idea of love rather than Leonard himself. Now the thought of him clouds her, draining her mind of vivacity and ideas.
Consequently, Miranda keeps a string of eligible men dangling from her fingertips, ready to ensure she is suitably entertained. A sequence of flirtations has already taken place, none of which lasted for very long. Rather, Miranda favours superficial relationships based on admiration without the complications of deepening emotions. Her closest friend, Gloria, who is nursing at Star Cross, considers these men to be ‘occupations’ or playthings for Miranda, there to provide the admiration she relies on. In effect, each admirer is a looking-glass in which Miranda can preen herself. Perhaps they are little more than ‘a succession of shifting illusions’, a thought Miranda chafes against, even though she realises it might well be true.
What did she really feel towards Richard? At present she felt in a state of emotional catalepsy. How tired she was of finding the exhilaration of a new friendship evaporate! As familiarity grew, glimpses of a rare intimacy faded like a mirage, and she had to admit that once again she had been attracted by a fabrication of her own mind—a sort of projection of herself. Objectivity sudden suddenly returned, leaving her with a sense of disenchantment. (p. 13)
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026...
Part war-torn love story, part character study, part portrayal of a young woman’s life on the home front, The Spring House is another brilliant entry in the British Library Women Writers series – in fact, I think it’s one of the most absorbing and accomplished novels in the collection so far.
First published in 1936, The Spring House is one of only two novels by Lady Cynthia Asquith, whose writing encompassed diaries, royal biographies and children’s books. She was also the daughter-in-law of the Liberal politician Herbert Henry Asquith, Britain’s Prime Minister from 1908 to 1916. While the book came out at a time of rising political tensions across Europe, it takes as its setting an earlier conflict – that of WWI and its impact on those who remained in Britain. The novel deftly combines social comedy with emotional perceptiveness, and we also see how war changes people, focusing predominantly on the upper-class milieu. There are also some excellent insights into the traumatic fallout from conflict on the battlefield, touching on loss, crippling grief and debilitating shell shock. It’s an excellent and immersive story, elegantly expressed.
Opening in May 1915 and closing in April 1919, The Spring House spans four years in the life of its central protagonist, Miranda Gray, a twenty-two-year-old British woman from a privileged background. Before the war, Miranda and her husband, Leonard, had been living in Canada, where Leonard remained stationed following the outbreak. However, when the war began, Miranda, accompanied by her four-year-old son, Pat, happened to be visiting her mother at Star Cross, the family’s grand country home in England. Now Miranda and Pat have been in Britain for ten months, ostensibly because Leonard is worried about the risk of them being attacked by submarines during their return crossing to Canada. Meanwhile, Star Cross has been turned into an auxiliary hospital, and Miranda’s mother, Mrs Moore, is heavily involved in its day-to-day management.
On the surface, Miranda comes across as rather self-absorbed, someone who thrives on admiration as confirmation of her value to others. Her feelings towards Leonard are those of loyalty and affection, not passion and desire. At seventeen, she had fallen in love with the idea of love rather than Leonard himself. Now the thought of him clouds her, draining her mind of vivacity and ideas.
Consequently, Miranda keeps a string of eligible men dangling from her fingertips, ready to ensure she is suitably entertained. A sequence of flirtations has already taken place, none of which lasted for very long. Rather, Miranda favours superficial relationships based on admiration without the complications of deepening emotions. Her closest friend, Gloria, who is nursing at Star Cross, considers these men to be ‘occupations’ or playthings for Miranda, there to provide the admiration she relies on. In effect, each admirer is a looking-glass in which Miranda can preen herself. Perhaps they are little more than ‘a succession of shifting illusions’, a thought Miranda chafes against, even though she realises it might well be true.
What did she really feel towards Richard? At present she felt in a state of emotional catalepsy. How tired she was of finding the exhilaration of a new friendship evaporate! As familiarity grew, glimpses of a rare intimacy faded like a mirage, and she had to admit that once again she had been attracted by a fabrication of her own mind—a sort of projection of herself. Objectivity sudden suddenly returned, leaving her with a sense of disenchantment. (p. 13)
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026...
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review