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Ashe of Rings
The classic first novel of modernist English writer Mary Butts, a drama reverberating with visionary energy, "Ashe Of Rings" enacts a struggle of rightful succession to the guardianship of site of sacred mystery. While World War I rages in the background, a young Englishwoman summons her band of friends to confront treachery and to fight her disinheritance from her mother.
- GenresFiction
313 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1925
17 people want to read
About the author
Mary Butts
43 books23 followersMary Francis Butts was a modernist writer whose work found recognition in important literary magazines of the time, as well as from some of her fellow modernists, T. S. Eliot, Hilda Dolittle, and Bryher. After her death, her works fell into obscurity until they began to be republished in the 1980s.
Butts was a student of the occultist Aleister Crowley, and as one of several students who worked with him on his Magick (Book 4) in 1912, she was given co-author credit. She was married to poet, publisher, and pacifist John Rodker from 1918 to 1927; their daughter, Camilla, was born in 1920.
Butts was a student of the occultist Aleister Crowley, and as one of several students who worked with him on his Magick (Book 4) in 1912, she was given co-author credit. She was married to poet, publisher, and pacifist John Rodker from 1918 to 1927; their daughter, Camilla, was born in 1920.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 6, 2024
Butts, Mary - Ashe Of Rings
Unsure where I heard of this author. I had been reading Lilith’s Legacy by Renée Vivien beforehand, so perhaps later curiosity drew me her way.
Butts was part of the lost generation between the wars. Friends included Ezra Pound, Ford Maddox Ford, Aleister Crowley, Jean Cocteau, Virgil Thomson, Gertrude Stein, many others.
Although I later scanned reviews that said Ashe Of Rings was steeped in supernatural and magick, it was really an observation on conditions of the final year of the Great War. No ghosts, but there was a pagan streak throughout, particularly regarding the Eumolpidae (believe me, I had to look that up).
Butts was a Modernist, like Woolf and Joyce, and stream of consciousness blends with dialogue. Often I had to reread, regroup, and untangle who was speaking or thinking at any given time.
I glanced at reviews after I finished the novel, and they were polarized. People adored it, others quit midway. Again, the prose and classical references are difficult.
I had read Autumn by Ali Smith a month earlier and had been irked by her choice to not use dialogue “quotes” which I found lazy. Mrs Butts required more concentration, although I find observations of the Great War, especially the side alleys, curious and absorbing.
Unsure where I heard of this author. I had been reading Lilith’s Legacy by Renée Vivien beforehand, so perhaps later curiosity drew me her way.
Butts was part of the lost generation between the wars. Friends included Ezra Pound, Ford Maddox Ford, Aleister Crowley, Jean Cocteau, Virgil Thomson, Gertrude Stein, many others.
Although I later scanned reviews that said Ashe Of Rings was steeped in supernatural and magick, it was really an observation on conditions of the final year of the Great War. No ghosts, but there was a pagan streak throughout, particularly regarding the Eumolpidae (believe me, I had to look that up).
Butts was a Modernist, like Woolf and Joyce, and stream of consciousness blends with dialogue. Often I had to reread, regroup, and untangle who was speaking or thinking at any given time.
I glanced at reviews after I finished the novel, and they were polarized. People adored it, others quit midway. Again, the prose and classical references are difficult.
I had read Autumn by Ali Smith a month earlier and had been irked by her choice to not use dialogue “quotes” which I found lazy. Mrs Butts required more concentration, although I find observations of the Great War, especially the side alleys, curious and absorbing.
Displaying 1 of 1 review