The Duchess of Wrexe: Her Decline and Death. a Romantic Commentary

Rising City series #1

by Hugh Walpole

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, CBE was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on March 13th, 1884. His parents had moved to New Zealand in 1877, but his mother, Mildred, unable to settle there, eventually persuaded her husband, Somerset, an Anglican clergyman, to accept another post, this time in New York in 1889. Walpole's early years involved being educated by a Governess until, in 1893, his parents decided he needed an English education and the young Walpole was sent to England. He first attended a preparatory school in Truro. He naturally missed his family but was reasonably happy. A move to Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow in 1895, found him bullied, frightened and miserable. The following year, 1897, the Walpole's returned to England and Walpole was moved to be a day boy at Durham School. His sense of isolation increased. His refuge was the local library and reading. From 1903 to 1906 Walpole studied history at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and there, in 1905, had his first work published, the critical essay "Two Meredithian Heroes." Walpole was also attempting to cope with and come to terms with his homosexual feelings and to find "that perfect friend." After a short spell tutoring in Germany and then teaching French at Epsom in 1908 he found the desire to fully immerse himself in the literary world. He moved to London to become a book reviewer for The Standard and to write fiction in his spare time. In 1909, he published his first novel, The Wooden Horse. The book received good reviews but sold little. Better was to come in 1911 when he published Mr Perrin and Mr Traill. In early 1914 Henry James wrote an article for The Times Literary Supplement surveying the younger generation of British novelists. Walpole was greatly encouraged that one of the greatest living authors had publicly ranked him among the finest young British novelists. As war approached, Walpole realised that his poor eyesight would disqualify him from service and accepted an appointment, based in Moscow, reporting for The Saturday Review and The Daily Mail. Although allowed to visit the front in Poland, these dispatches were not enough to stop hostile comments at home that he was not 'doing his bit' for the war effort. Walpole was ready with a counter; an appointment as a Russian officer, in the Sanitar. He explained they were "part of the Red Cross that does the rough work at the front, carrying men out of the trenches, helping at the base hospitals in every sort of way, doing every kind of rough job." During a skirmish in June 1915 Walpole rescued a wounded soldier; his Russian comrades refused to help and this meant Walpole had to carry one end of a stretcher, dragging the man to safety. He was awarded the Cross of Saint George. By late 1917 it was clear to Walpole, and the authorities, that his work was at an end. In London Walpole joined the Foreign Office and remained there until resigning in February 1919. For his wartime work he was awarded the CBE in 1918. Walpole continued to write and publish and now also began a career on the highly lucrative lecture tour in the United States. At the end of 1924 Walpole met Harold Cheevers, who soon became his friend and constant companion and remained so for the rest of his life; "that perfect friend." Hollywood, in the shape of MGM, invited him in 1934 to write the script for a film of David Copperfield. He also had a small acting role in the film. In 1937 Walpole was offered a knighthood. He accepted although Kipling, Hardy, Galsworthy had all refused. "I'm not of their class... Besides I shall like being a knight," he said. Unfortunately his health was undermined by diabetes made worse by the frenetic pace of his life. Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, CBE died of a heart attack at Brackenburn, aged 57 on June 1st, 1941. He was buried in St John's churchyard in Keswick.

Genres: British Literature, Fiction

326 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole was an English novelist. A prolific writer, he published thirty-six novels, five volumes of short stories, two plays and three volumes of memoirs. His skill at scene-setting, his vivid plots, his high profile as a lecturer and his driving ambition brought him a large readership in the United Kingdom and North America. A best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s, his works have been neglected since his death.

Reviews

[Laura]

The first book in the Rising City series.

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

[Bettie]

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33086

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unusually for this author, I didn't quite believe in any of the characters, so wasn't particularly invested in what happened to them. There's a great deal of tell not show here.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superficially, this book is very similar to others of its type and time--a spirited girl comes out into society and must choose between her rebellious and outcast cousin or a conventional young man. Rachel chooses the conventional young man, but as their marriage begins to degenerate, she comes into contact with her cousin once more. She falls in love with him--will she leave her husband and run off with her romantic but weak lover? And looming over all of this is the spectre of her grandmother, The Duchess, an old woman whose powers and health are waning but not yet gone.

The story of Rachel, Francis, Roddy and Lizzie's tangled love affair is merely the frontispiece of an examination of the end of the Victorian Age.

I especially loved the juxtaposition of each character's torrid thoughts and feelings with their banal conversations.

And yet, at the end, Walpole just couldn't resist having his characters moralize about coming generations and "this new Individualism". Quit while you're ahead!

[Kat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring boring boring but I stuck with it.