A Card from Angela Carter

by Susannah Clapp

Angela Carter was one of the most vivid voices of the twentieth century. When she died in 1992 at the age of fifty-one, she had published fifteen books of fiction and essays; outrage at her omission from any Booker Prize shortlists led to the foundation of the Orange Prize.

Angela Carter sent her friend Susannah Clapp postcards from all over the world, missives which form a paper trail through her life. The pictures she chose were sometimes domestic, sometimes flights of fantasy and surrealism. The messages were always pungent.

Here, Susannah Clapp uses postcards - the emails of the twentieth century - to travel through Angela Carter's life; and to evoke her anarchic intelligence, fierce politics, rich language and ribaldry, and the great swoops of her imagination.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Writing, Female Authors, Biography Memoir, British Literature

106 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2012

Reviews

[Jean-Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun Fact (that you won't find mentioned in this book so you're welcome): Angela Carter was a mentor to Kazuo Ishiguro. And so it is only apt that in a year during which I read a great deal of Ishiguro, I should wind it down by circling back to Miss Carter.

Fun Fact #2 (found in the book): Before her death she was planning a novel based on Jane Eyre which featured Mr. Rochester's ward, Adèle Varens, as its protagonist.

(Not so Fun) Fact #3: Angela Carter once struggled with anorexia. Who knew?

With lots of references to Iris Murdoch and great quips from the back of Angela Carter's postcards, what's not to like about this slim volume? Try reading about her final days and funeral without a lump in your throat. Angela Carter and Helene Hanff are definitely somewhere having an absolute ball together. Somebody put it in my stocking for Christmas!

[Suad Shamma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I always do this and I end up regretting it. I've enjoyed the Angela Carter books I've read, and although I haven't read many, what I have read I liked. So I saw this cute looking, small book that reveals Carter's postcards, letters, talks about her (albeit briefly) and pretty much acts as a nice homage to her from a close friend.

Unfortunately, I did not like the image that this friend of hers described. There was too much focus on how she looked and how she spoke and very little about her, as a person, as an individual. I felt disappointed almost, because in my head I had a completely different version of Carter than what was revealed in this book. And that's what I mean by always putting myself in these situations only to regret it later.

It's happened quite a few times now, where I read biographies of individuals whose work I look up to, only to be severely disappointed by the way they are portrayed in their biographies and it changes the way I see them or think about them forever. I hate that.

No matter how much you try, at the end of the day, you will talk or write about a person they way YOU see them and YOU think about them, and that doesn't necessarily stay true to their character, but we'll never know, will we? because they're already dead. So we end up being stuck with your version of events, and it warps all other versions we had.

That's what happened here. I loved Angela Carter, but after reading this book I felt severely underwhelmed by the character she was described as. I had no idea that she had passed away due to cancer, so that was news to me, and it was nice to see how she dealt with her illness and how she really worked on leaving behind work that would help provide for her husband and son. The constant reference to her shape and size and hair and looks and way of speaking took away so much from the person she actually was. This being a very small book makes it even more critical to focus on more important things than the fact she was "a big woman".

[Zanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad Susannah Clapp, Angela Carter's literary executor and friend, decided to write this little book, not only because one more precious piece of Angela in the world is a blessing, but also because she's chosen such a clever way to tell her own bit of Carter's biography, revealing her character so colourfully and amusingly through postcards she sent and the messages they carried.

The messages are short, and it's Clapp's eloquent, tightly woven commentary that brings them vividly to life and nests them in a brilliant sketch of Carter's life and personality. I adore Angela all the more, and I think anyone who likes her writing will be delighted by this. And if you don't know Carter, my favourite white writer, then whet your appetite with this amuse bouche!

I don't want to spoil too many of the gems so I'll say no more…

"I find nothing more erotic than the spectacle of a man up to his elbows in the sink"

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rather beautiful book. One I enjoyed very much. Despite it's short length, Clapp does an excellent of job of conveaying a sense of who Carter was, even for those of us who discovered her after her death (or in my case, the year of her death). This is a wonderful memory book (much like Terry Pratchett's The Unadulterated Cat) and that is what makes it so special. Well worth the price. I'm really glad I read this.

[Corrie Mwende · Rating 3 out of 5]

A miniature bio 📕 with medieval like English. Susannah a master of literature, neats Angela Carter's life in decorious words. If Angela was alive in the twitter age, she would be defiant to the norms of being proper. Unashamed of being foul!

"Dandyism and irony were the weapons of the dispossessed." Angela Carter.

I didn't know anything about Angela, didn't even know of her existence, but I am curious to research more on her.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is short but compelling, with no definite chronology. The postcards constitute its backbone, each forming the basis for a part of Angela's experience: the retelling of a story or an adventure, a controversial opinion or a personal rant. In the absence of a printed biography by any other author, the postcards, sent by the well-travelled Angela to her friend Susannah and included in this brief peek into her life, are used throughout to reveal the many aspects of her luminous personality. Clapp also draws from a wealth of personal knowledge on Angela's beliefs and opinions, her passions and her liberal morality. Because it's written by a friend rather than an estranged biographer, it holds a touching amount of detail that cannot be found elsewhere. A look into Angela's archives and interviews can provide a greater amount of factual evidence, but it's rare to find documents that demonstrate, for instance, how her wicked sense of humour was received by her friends and relatives; how she felt about her illness and imminent death: 'she cursed her illness but took satisfaction from the fact that just before her diagnosis she'd taken out a whopping insurance policy; she "thought it very funny", Rushdie said, "that the insurance company was screwed".' Some might see the lack of precise detail and chronology as a pitfall in Susannah's writing, and in terms of concrete knowledge, it is. If you're after a dusty tome scrutinising every detail in each literary work, and highlighting every blemish, flourish and scandal in Angela's personal life, you won't find it here. This book is for those looking beyond the nitty gritty. It's brimful of integrity and genuine love for Angela as a writer and as a friend, and Susannah pays a great tribute to Carter's passion for storytelling by avoiding obvious, well-known and accessible information. She provides an intimate look not only into Angela's life and works, but also into the circles she moved through both professionally and socially, the colourful literary scene and the precarious political landscape of the late 20th Century.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angela Carter is the grande dame of lush, fantastical stories, and published 15 books of fiction and poetry in her lifetime – but in the 20 years since her death, there has yet to appear an in-depth study of her life and work. This is not that book, but it's something much more beautiful: a personal tribute to a writer and friend. The book is structured around a series of postcards that Susannah Clapp, a previous editor of the London Review of Books, received throughout her friendship with Angela Carter. Although the actual content of the postcards is sparse, they're used more as a jumping-off point for Clapp to share many anecdotes and insights into Carter's family life, domestic tendencies (or lack of), responses to critics, and stances on feminism and politics.

This is not for those unfamiliar with Carter's work: no timeline or overall view is provided, so it's not useful in providing a sense of her literary work or personal journey as a writer. Readers of Carter's work, though, will love the insights into her personal and professional life, and even the most enthusiastic fan will find something new here. Treading the ground between comfort reading and literature, this book is perfect for those who are short on time but crave brain-food.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed A Card from Angela Carter from the library, expecting something akin to an art book given its synopsis. Rather, it is a condensed biography; it is quite a well written piece, but Clapp certainly focuses upon differing episodes in the life of Carter the adult. We learn nothing much about her as a child or a teen; rather, the recollections here occurred, in the main, when Clapp and Carter were friends. Its compactness does not feel overly limiting, but I do not feel as though I learnt a great deal about the woman herself. Regardless, A Card from Angela Carter is a fitting tribute to a lost friend.

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light and desultory tour of a marvelous and complex author's life. Easy and entertaining but with a good glug of heart.

[Emma Sea]

In the opening pages the author tells us that Angela Carter asked her to go through her work and publish whatever she could, to financially support the two sons she left behind after her untimely death, of cancer. So, obviously, if I was to rate the book anything less than a 4 I would feel like I was ripping bread from the mouths of children. Therefore, no rating from me for this one.

[G.G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short but full of delights: beautifully observed and written, successfully conveys a great deal about Angela Carter in miniature form.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read Angela Carter's adult "fairy tales" in the 1980s, and she was always in the back of my mind. Who knows how I came across this book. It is a sentimental and honest memorial for a writer who is not well enough known in this world. The basis for the book is postcards which were sent to Susannah Clapp, a friend and literary executor. There is something about the brief messages in the postcards which reveal the writer's personality through the choice of images and words. Clapp expands on this to reveal a bit of Carter's life, which is as interesting as her fiction.

[Caitlin Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

sweet + quirky little biography of Angela Carter by her friend, organized by the weird postcards Angela would send her. Loved it and love miss Angie! Always mourning the novel about mr rochester’s daughter Adele from “Jane Eyre” that Angela died before finishing 💔

[Ana María · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luminous...

[Natashaketel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sweet, short, easy read that captures Angela Carter’s charm and provides a fascinating insight into her bizarre, surprising, wonderful life.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Annikky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful little book. It reminded me how much I adored The Bloody Chamber and that I should read more Carter.

[Lorna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came across this sweet, scattershot biography of Angela Carter in the library. It's a lovely celebration of an inspiring, strong-minded woman, as well as art and fiction. I didn't feel like I got a hugely insightful/in depth picture of her, but has reminded me discover the unread and revisit her gorgeous books.

[Laura Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met Susannah Clapp at the 2012 Edinburgh International Book Festival, and bought this book after hearing her talk about Angela. It's a lovely, personal look at one of my favourite authors, told through postcards that Angela sent to Susannah.

It's a nicely presented book too: the only negative is that it's all black and white, which doesn't do the postcards any justice. A bit of me - a very nosey bit - would have liked to have seen Angela's handwriting on the back of the postcards too.

A good read for Angela Carter fans.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and compelling epitaph incredibly evocative of Carter’s anarchic and visionary works. Clapp’s tribute sings with reverence and conjures a wonderful sense of just how much fun it must have been to know Angela Carter herself.

For a very slim volume, A Card from Angela Carter is surprisingly comprehensive; Clapp’s writing is efficient, acute and discriminating. The very form of the book is a brilliant idea; conveying the essence of Carter and the trajectory of her dazzling career through the medium of the various postcards sent to her literary executor. It makes for a deft and skillful read.

At times the focus becomes a little lost. The context of some of the cards strays in bizarre directions that occasionally feel forced; it is as though Clapp was forging avenues through which to cover more aspects of Carter’s life. The effect is that the biography sometimes seems incongruous with the source material.

Original and poignant - a self is conveyed as opposed to just a life. Above all, it makes me want to scribble a few post cards with wry observations myself.

[Sunniva · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful little book with fun stories about Angela Carter.

[Debbie McGowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

What this book should be: Gothic and grotesque, Vaudeville and burlesque, a romp through Angela Carter's 'larger than' life via lewd postcards and satirical observations.

What it is: a diatribe penned by the executor of Carter's literary estate, at once bemused and delighted by Carter's working class sensibilities. Middle class, Guardian Review, BBC Radio 4 post-feminist semi-academic Clapp-trap. We do not need to have postcards described to us and then presented. Indeed, there need to be a lot more postcards and a lot less, "I was a super-close friend of Angela Carter, look, she sent me postcards."

Redeemed only by the ending, this pretentious endeavour is not what I was expecting when I put this book on my Christmas list. It does contain a nice postcard of an armadillo though.

[Heather Noble · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book revived my guilt about not having read that much of Angela Carter because what I have read hasn't convinced me that she's an author I enjoy and there's too much out there that I do enjoy. So I have now defined myself as a hedonistic reader. And what I did enjoy about "A card from Angela Carter" was the insight into a friendship that was both professionally literary and intensely personal. Some paragraphs in the book poignantly portrayed without pretension the woven life of an author, wife and mother and how this lack of pretension is paramount in the stories.
So, I have resolved to try Angela Carter again. But this slight volume is little more than a homage to a friend.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this slight volume in one sitting. It was interesting to read about Angela Carter from a friend's perspective and I enjoyed thematic prompts provided by the postcards. However, I was disappointed by the lack of colour illustrations and would have liked to have seen Angela's own handwriting - I see that it retails for around £10, so I don't think that's too much to expect. I used to be a great sender of postcards, but they seem to have gone out of fashion now - probably because it costs so much in postage! I'd say this is a treat for Angela Carter fans, but probably not all that interesting to the indifferent reader.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great idea for a book- Susannah Clapp has taken a selection of the postcards written to her by Angela Carter and then discusses what was going on around the time of the postcard- its like a quick biography with lots of witty stories from Angela Carter,one of Britains best writers. I wonder if anyone is keeping my postcards.......

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't find the words to explain how happy this book made me feel. at times it made me giggle so loudly that people around me would ask what I was reading. it's so hard to explain A.C. if one has never read her. we were robbed when angela carter was taken from us. thank you susannah clapp for sharing these stories with us.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not at all what I was expecting, which wasn't much. This provides as close a look at Carter as likely we'll get, outside of her novels, and it is quite good. The book design does not facilitate the postcards, and some of the postcards are not included.

[Dorotea · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Angela Carter being my favourite write, having additional background to her life was great for me. A quick read that helped me get more knowledge on Mrs. Carter, her writing, and how her life affected her characters.

[Bettie · Rating 1 out of 5]

http://bettie.booklikes.com/blog

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
A portrait of the author Angela Carter via a series of postcards she sent to a friend.