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Vivien
Vivien is a gothic-tinged tale of birth, rumor, and quiet resilience in a London house and a world on the edge of propriety. A young girl’s name becomes a focal point for secrets, society’s gaze, and a family’s tangled past.
The novel unfolds through a blend of intimate character study and sharp social observation. It follows Vivien as she grows from a fragile, thoughtful child into a figure whose life intersects with a circle of curious friends, stern guardians, and whispered truths. The narrative voice moves between a whimsical sense of fairies and a grounded, sometimes harsh, reality, drawing readers into a world where appearances and motives continually clash.
Explore vivid scenes of social evenings, private conversations, and the unspoken rules of a privileged world. Meet a cast of neighbors, friends, and rivals whose choices ripple through Vivien’s life. Uncover themes of memory, trust, and the tension between public image and private truth. Ideal for readers who enjoy period fiction with atmospheric detail, character-driven drama, and a touch of fairy-tableau metaphor woven into everyday life.
Vivien
The novel unfolds through a blend of intimate character study and sharp social observation. It follows Vivien as she grows from a fragile, thoughtful child into a figure whose life intersects with a circle of curious friends, stern guardians, and whispered truths. The narrative voice moves between a whimsical sense of fairies and a grounded, sometimes harsh, reality, drawing readers into a world where appearances and motives continually clash.
Explore vivid scenes of social evenings, private conversations, and the unspoken rules of a privileged world. Meet a cast of neighbors, friends, and rivals whose choices ripple through Vivien’s life. Uncover themes of memory, trust, and the tension between public image and private truth. Ideal for readers who enjoy period fiction with atmospheric detail, character-driven drama, and a touch of fairy-tableau metaphor woven into everyday life.
Vivien
616 pages, Hardcover
Published August 24, 2018
About the author
W.B. Maxwell
69 books4 followersWilliam Babington Maxwell (1866–1938) was a British novelist. Born on June 4, 1866, he was the third surviving child and second eldest son of novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon.
Though nearly 50 years old at the outbreak of the First World War, he was accepted as a lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers and served in France until 1917.
He wrote The Last Man In, a drama, produced 14 March 1910, at the Royalty Theatre, Glasgow, by the Scottish Repertory Company; and, with George Paston (i. e., Emily Morse Symonds), a farce, The Naked Truth, which was first played at Wyndham's Theatre, London, in April, 1910, and in which Charles Hawtrey played Bernard Darrell.
Though nearly 50 years old at the outbreak of the First World War, he was accepted as a lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers and served in France until 1917.
He wrote The Last Man In, a drama, produced 14 March 1910, at the Royalty Theatre, Glasgow, by the Scottish Repertory Company; and, with George Paston (i. e., Emily Morse Symonds), a farce, The Naked Truth, which was first played at Wyndham's Theatre, London, in April, 1910, and in which Charles Hawtrey played Bernard Darrell.
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