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Cullum
"The old sorrow and desire tore at me again as fiercely as they had ever done...this man's body had been my heaven, and I loved him."
Esther Sieveking is nineteen, half French, half fox-hunting English. She lives in Surrey among people for whom books are a last resource for killing time, but for her literature holds the world; writing is her aspiration.
Then she meets the young author Cullum Hayes, brilliant, plausible, glamorous. He tells her they have met in his dreams. She believes him, and falls in love. But Cullum is a romancer, a cheat, a weaver of stories and a seducer of women...
On publication in 1928, many exclaimed over Cullum's extraordinary maturity, depth and sexual candour. For some, though, this story of first, obsessive, and hopeless love, by a twenty-four-year-old author, was too much -- as one reviewer remarked, "It is all very well to be outspoken, but there are some things which are better left unsaid and Cullum is full of them."
Esther Sieveking is nineteen, half French, half fox-hunting English. She lives in Surrey among people for whom books are a last resource for killing time, but for her literature holds the world; writing is her aspiration.
Then she meets the young author Cullum Hayes, brilliant, plausible, glamorous. He tells her they have met in his dreams. She believes him, and falls in love. But Cullum is a romancer, a cheat, a weaver of stories and a seducer of women...
On publication in 1928, many exclaimed over Cullum's extraordinary maturity, depth and sexual candour. For some, though, this story of first, obsessive, and hopeless love, by a twenty-four-year-old author, was too much -- as one reviewer remarked, "It is all very well to be outspoken, but there are some things which are better left unsaid and Cullum is full of them."
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1928
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About the author
E. Arnot Robertson
16 books1 followerEileen Arbuthnot Robertson was an English novelist, critic and broadcaster.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 8, 2017
3.5 stars
This is Robertson’s first novel and was published in 1928 when she was 24 and is another virago read. The theme is obsessive love; the sort that happens the first time someone falls in love and finds it all-consuming. The protagonist is 19 year old Esther Sieveking, a country girl who lives in rural Surrey with her father and sister. Her father trains difficult horses and Esther is also a keen rider and hunter; with aspirations to write and be literary. Esther is a bright, intelligent and initially likeable character and her beloved object is Cullum Hayes a writer a little older than she is. He is charming, attractive and intelligent and treats Esther as his equal. He is also unable to help himself moving from one woman to next; completely sincere in announcing his undying love as he had to the previous.
Cullum was considered by some reviewers to be a little risqué and outspoken and Robertson’s powers of observation are quite sharp at times, such as when Esther first meets Cullum at a dinner party and she manages to outrage her hosts:
“Mrs. Cole enquired with a simulated shudder of horror whether that huge dog of mine had ever bitten anyone. "I was petrified when the creature rushed for me," she said. "Simply petrified, I was!"
"Justice is too old and fat and good-natured to hurt a fly," I told her, "unless she sat on it by mistake."
"What a curious name for a dog," Mr. Cole observed. "Why do you call him 'Justice'?"
"Justice isn't a 'him,' but a bitch," I answered without thinking. "Originally her name was Sheila, but she's called Justice because she has had so many miscarriages."
There was a moment of heavy, tense silence, before Mrs. Cole said, "Oh, really?" in a forced voice”
There are several contradictions which are reflected in Robertson’s own life; she was a writer, film critic, radio and early TV personality and yet she felt a woman had need of a man; taking her own life following her husband’s death. The end of the novel is very melodramatic, overly so and I found it unconvincing.
The novel does have psychological depth and Robertson’s exploration of first, obsessive love is interesting. She pushed boundaries and this description of Cullum was, for the day, unusual:
“Cullum, stripped, was an unusually fine human creature. His body was one of those entirely beautiful things whose loveliness hurts. He was lithe, and the moulding of the long arms, lean and muscle-grooved, was splendid. Wide shoulders tapered down to narrow hips, set over narrow, deep thighs, and his fair skin held an almost transparent sheen.”
One reviewer comments:
“It is all very well to be outspoken, but there are some things which are better left unsaid and Cullum is full of them.”
There are discordant notes, which remind you of the class system in 1920s England, such as the scene where Esther is determined to ride one of her father’s more dangerous horses and threatens the groom (who she has known all her life) with the sack unless he helps.
There are parts of this which irritate and delight in equal measure.
This is Robertson’s first novel and was published in 1928 when she was 24 and is another virago read. The theme is obsessive love; the sort that happens the first time someone falls in love and finds it all-consuming. The protagonist is 19 year old Esther Sieveking, a country girl who lives in rural Surrey with her father and sister. Her father trains difficult horses and Esther is also a keen rider and hunter; with aspirations to write and be literary. Esther is a bright, intelligent and initially likeable character and her beloved object is Cullum Hayes a writer a little older than she is. He is charming, attractive and intelligent and treats Esther as his equal. He is also unable to help himself moving from one woman to next; completely sincere in announcing his undying love as he had to the previous.
Cullum was considered by some reviewers to be a little risqué and outspoken and Robertson’s powers of observation are quite sharp at times, such as when Esther first meets Cullum at a dinner party and she manages to outrage her hosts:
“Mrs. Cole enquired with a simulated shudder of horror whether that huge dog of mine had ever bitten anyone. "I was petrified when the creature rushed for me," she said. "Simply petrified, I was!"
"Justice is too old and fat and good-natured to hurt a fly," I told her, "unless she sat on it by mistake."
"What a curious name for a dog," Mr. Cole observed. "Why do you call him 'Justice'?"
"Justice isn't a 'him,' but a bitch," I answered without thinking. "Originally her name was Sheila, but she's called Justice because she has had so many miscarriages."
There was a moment of heavy, tense silence, before Mrs. Cole said, "Oh, really?" in a forced voice”
There are several contradictions which are reflected in Robertson’s own life; she was a writer, film critic, radio and early TV personality and yet she felt a woman had need of a man; taking her own life following her husband’s death. The end of the novel is very melodramatic, overly so and I found it unconvincing.
The novel does have psychological depth and Robertson’s exploration of first, obsessive love is interesting. She pushed boundaries and this description of Cullum was, for the day, unusual:
“Cullum, stripped, was an unusually fine human creature. His body was one of those entirely beautiful things whose loveliness hurts. He was lithe, and the moulding of the long arms, lean and muscle-grooved, was splendid. Wide shoulders tapered down to narrow hips, set over narrow, deep thighs, and his fair skin held an almost transparent sheen.”
One reviewer comments:
“It is all very well to be outspoken, but there are some things which are better left unsaid and Cullum is full of them.”
There are discordant notes, which remind you of the class system in 1920s England, such as the scene where Esther is determined to ride one of her father’s more dangerous horses and threatens the groom (who she has known all her life) with the sack unless he helps.
There are parts of this which irritate and delight in equal measure.
September 21, 2021
‘Cullum’ was Eileen Arbuthnot Robertson’s first novel, published in 1928 when she was just twenty-four years old. It’s an extraordinary piece of writing. Flawed, but still extraordinary. It was a great success, but it had a mixed reception. It was expected that women would write about love, in this case first love, but it was not expected that women – that anyone – would write about love quite like this.
Esther Sieveking was nineteen and she lived with her father, a military man who had retired to the country to train horses, and her two much younger sisters. Her French mother had abandoned them to live in Paris, occasionally, imperiously, summoning them for visits. And so Esther grew up in genteel poverty and, with her mother absent and her father seeming emotionally detached from his children, little guidance.
She grew into a countrywoman, who lived for her horse and for the hunt, and when she wasn’t riding she was in the library, reading, or dreaming of becoming a writer.
It was no wonder she was smitten when she met Cullum Hayes, a twenty-four year old writer who had already met with success at a dinner party. And it was no wonder that he was intrigued by the confident, outspoken young woman, who said things not usually said – by young or old – at the dinner table.
Esther told her own story, looking back at time when she had gained wisdom but lost none of her passion. And she acknowledged at the very beginning that this story would not have a happy ending.
“Once the glamour has faded it is hard to give a clear impression of a man whom one has loved, as he appeared while the magic endured. Feeling loses so much of its life in the translation into words that one has to be still a little bound by the spell, still partly convinced at least, of the reality of the broken enchantment, in order to be convincing, and in retrospect it is difficult to see the figure in it’s old perspective, unaltered by the light of after-knowledge, and to realise where the charm lay. Yet, in a way I am still conscious of Cullum’s charm.”
The signs were there, that Cullum – who had a fiancé – was playing Esther. That he was taken by her, that he would take everything that she was willing to give, but that he would give her only as much as he had to, to keep her by his side.
The story of their relationship is written with such insight, such intelligence, and such extraordinary maturity. The dialogue is wonderful, and Esther’s voice rings utterly true.
“I knew that I loved Cullum, knew in my heart that he loved me, but I was not sure what I wanted to happen, or if, indeed, I wanted anything to happen that might alter existing conditions. To both of us just then, I think, love unexpressed but gloriously apparent seemed sufficient on itself. Certainly I did not want to marry Cullum. Marriage did not enter my head; the child of an unhappy union …”
He independence, her candour, were wonderful but I feared for her and I worried about what would happen to her, what future would be left for her when Cullum tired of her, when those qualities began to pall.
Esther was devastated when she realised that Cullum did not love her as she loved him. The way that she found out, and the extent of his disloyalty that she would discover in time, would have shocked even a more experienced woman. Her reaction was shocking, but it was entirely in character.
And then came the letter.
“His letter left me dazed for several days. I could not believe that Cullum had gone out of my life for ever, not that he was the contemptible romancer and cheat that life had suddenly proved him, I only knew that I wanted him. My mind recognised that he was worthless, my whole body was crying out for him; reason has no more power to recall love that to bestow it.”
After that the story fell away, with Esther’s voice muted as she just carried on. Until a rather melodramatic ending brought Cullum’s story to a firm conclusion.
It was a wonderful story, told with passion but with not an ounce of sentimentality.
The only real weakness I saw was the author’s inclination to shock. There are just one or two moments that jar in this book, but I know that others have found that shock tactics completely undermines some of her later work. Such a pity because she writes so well, and showed such great promise in this first novel.
Cullum himself I am happy to forget, but the book that bears his name and its distinctive, modern heroine have left their mark.
Esther Sieveking was nineteen and she lived with her father, a military man who had retired to the country to train horses, and her two much younger sisters. Her French mother had abandoned them to live in Paris, occasionally, imperiously, summoning them for visits. And so Esther grew up in genteel poverty and, with her mother absent and her father seeming emotionally detached from his children, little guidance.
She grew into a countrywoman, who lived for her horse and for the hunt, and when she wasn’t riding she was in the library, reading, or dreaming of becoming a writer.
It was no wonder she was smitten when she met Cullum Hayes, a twenty-four year old writer who had already met with success at a dinner party. And it was no wonder that he was intrigued by the confident, outspoken young woman, who said things not usually said – by young or old – at the dinner table.
Esther told her own story, looking back at time when she had gained wisdom but lost none of her passion. And she acknowledged at the very beginning that this story would not have a happy ending.
“Once the glamour has faded it is hard to give a clear impression of a man whom one has loved, as he appeared while the magic endured. Feeling loses so much of its life in the translation into words that one has to be still a little bound by the spell, still partly convinced at least, of the reality of the broken enchantment, in order to be convincing, and in retrospect it is difficult to see the figure in it’s old perspective, unaltered by the light of after-knowledge, and to realise where the charm lay. Yet, in a way I am still conscious of Cullum’s charm.”
The signs were there, that Cullum – who had a fiancé – was playing Esther. That he was taken by her, that he would take everything that she was willing to give, but that he would give her only as much as he had to, to keep her by his side.
The story of their relationship is written with such insight, such intelligence, and such extraordinary maturity. The dialogue is wonderful, and Esther’s voice rings utterly true.
“I knew that I loved Cullum, knew in my heart that he loved me, but I was not sure what I wanted to happen, or if, indeed, I wanted anything to happen that might alter existing conditions. To both of us just then, I think, love unexpressed but gloriously apparent seemed sufficient on itself. Certainly I did not want to marry Cullum. Marriage did not enter my head; the child of an unhappy union …”
He independence, her candour, were wonderful but I feared for her and I worried about what would happen to her, what future would be left for her when Cullum tired of her, when those qualities began to pall.
Esther was devastated when she realised that Cullum did not love her as she loved him. The way that she found out, and the extent of his disloyalty that she would discover in time, would have shocked even a more experienced woman. Her reaction was shocking, but it was entirely in character.
And then came the letter.
“His letter left me dazed for several days. I could not believe that Cullum had gone out of my life for ever, not that he was the contemptible romancer and cheat that life had suddenly proved him, I only knew that I wanted him. My mind recognised that he was worthless, my whole body was crying out for him; reason has no more power to recall love that to bestow it.”
After that the story fell away, with Esther’s voice muted as she just carried on. Until a rather melodramatic ending brought Cullum’s story to a firm conclusion.
It was a wonderful story, told with passion but with not an ounce of sentimentality.
The only real weakness I saw was the author’s inclination to shock. There are just one or two moments that jar in this book, but I know that others have found that shock tactics completely undermines some of her later work. Such a pity because she writes so well, and showed such great promise in this first novel.
Cullum himself I am happy to forget, but the book that bears his name and its distinctive, modern heroine have left their mark.
January 27, 2015
A first novel of first love.
I found the hunting bits much more interesting than the relationship side.
Cullum is a romancer,a cheat a weaver of stories and a seducer of women.
Esther young and naive comes from a fox hunting family and is soon taken to Cullum.
I loved the scene with her dog Justice in where they meet Mrs Cole.
An enjoyable read.
I found the hunting bits much more interesting than the relationship side.
Cullum is a romancer,a cheat a weaver of stories and a seducer of women.
Esther young and naive comes from a fox hunting family and is soon taken to Cullum.
I loved the scene with her dog Justice in where they meet Mrs Cole.
An enjoyable read.
July 22, 2025
Quite good, especially for a first novel. Although the overall story is tragic, the strength of the novel lies in its ability to make you so happy for the young lovers when they are in love, even though you know it’s not going to last. It is better to have loved and lost….
March 8, 2017
I wasn't so engrossed and happy to be reading this as I was Ordinary Families but still enjoyed Robertson's voice. Cullum is one of those novels that I associate with the thirties (1928), bent on earnestly elaborating a psychological type or theme, rather like Cullum's own first novel about psychological weak spots. Cullum, a young man who sweeps the narrator off her feet, represents the elusive charmer who only loves that which is elusive, the liar whose claim to the tolerance he pleads for is that he is a fantasist who is always perfectly sincere -- at the time. I'm not really interested in this kind of character but I think the novel contextualises him well so that you can see that he contains much that has genuine value, only then you pan out and see the rest and can never go back.
Robertson is good at romantic intensity; I think I particularly notice it because she manages to do it in a way people don't do often enough, including the pleasure of actually being with the beloved, the value of what person A gets from the company of person B, not just using person B as a kind of treasure hunt for person A. Not that the romance of these two Robertson books isn't very much your archetypal sad elusive treasure hunt deal ultimately. Also she emphasises both intellectual and sexual interest to a pleasant degree.
Although I like the way Robertson deals with romance, I like the way she deals with ordinary life better, which is why I like Ordinary Families better. I liked the stuff in Cullum about the heroine's family and hunting and the newspaper she works for, and in Ordinary Families there is far more family stuff, far more sailing and great portions of the book are about the ebb and flow of their relationship with the family next door and I enjoyed it thoroughly, in that way one does sometimes enjoy mundane subject matter in the hands of some authors, without being entirely able to work out why. Both novels have first person heroines who have wry, unsentimental voices, not perhaps all that individualised in comparison to each other, but individualised in comparison to characters from similar novels. I didn't feel with either of them that I would especially like them if I met them, or that they would like me, but I was interested in their feelings all the same. Middlebrow with a pleasing tang.
Robertson is good at romantic intensity; I think I particularly notice it because she manages to do it in a way people don't do often enough, including the pleasure of actually being with the beloved, the value of what person A gets from the company of person B, not just using person B as a kind of treasure hunt for person A. Not that the romance of these two Robertson books isn't very much your archetypal sad elusive treasure hunt deal ultimately. Also she emphasises both intellectual and sexual interest to a pleasant degree.
Although I like the way Robertson deals with romance, I like the way she deals with ordinary life better, which is why I like Ordinary Families better. I liked the stuff in Cullum about the heroine's family and hunting and the newspaper she works for, and in Ordinary Families there is far more family stuff, far more sailing and great portions of the book are about the ebb and flow of their relationship with the family next door and I enjoyed it thoroughly, in that way one does sometimes enjoy mundane subject matter in the hands of some authors, without being entirely able to work out why. Both novels have first person heroines who have wry, unsentimental voices, not perhaps all that individualised in comparison to each other, but individualised in comparison to characters from similar novels. I didn't feel with either of them that I would especially like them if I met them, or that they would like me, but I was interested in their feelings all the same. Middlebrow with a pleasing tang.
August 20, 2013
So my mum was going to send this to a charity shop, and I'm so glad she didn't! It captured perfectly the infatuation that you treat your first love with, and the feelings that surround you when it's gone, how inevitably these are things that change you and for once an author has been able to show this in a way that doesn't make you become disappointed in the female character for not being a 'strong' woman, which is wanted so much these days, but you understand that this is all human and the values that we once prided ourselves on do change with time, which is in no way a bad thing. It is such a perfect book to me about coming of age and self respect that I can't imagine why it is not more popular.
February 13, 2016
This novel is not nearly as gripping as "Four Frightened People". The most interesting thing about it is that its strong, smart and principled heroine ends up being unable to control her 2 main passions. Although she disapproves of hunting, she is a fanatic of the sport and can't bear to give it up. Similarly, she can't stop loving Cullum, even after she's found out he's a born cheater. Only when Cullum is forced to commit suicide because he is facing prison does she feel free to marry. Esther is an interesting character but Cullum doesn't really come to life. This is a very readable novel, with some good scenes in it, but not particularly memorable.
November 7, 2014
A really nice read. Very well-written in interesting. The entire novel (short) revolves around the main character's/ narrator's relationship with a boy named Cullum. It is involved and interesting, but there are no secondary characters or plots. It's not a criticism - it's just a very straight, straightforward story. I found myself getting bored with the two characters despite the many changes, twists, and revelations. It wasn't long enough, for me, to become bored - and I put it down with the feeling that it had been interesting and quality, but I was glad it wasn't longer.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews