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It
"Elinor Glyn coined the word "It" to describe the magical magnetism which emanates from some peope and makes them wildly attractive. It can arouse love or hatred, but never indifference and it is inescapable! Ava with her gardenia skin and volumptuous red mouth can never, try as she may, escape from the "It" which pours out of John Gaunt's ruthless green eyes!" Barbara Cartland's blurb from the back cover.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1927
122 people want to read
About the author
Elinor Glyn
234 books34 followersElinor Sutherland was born in St Helier, Jersey, the younger daughter of Douglas Sutherland (1838–1865), a civil engineer of Scottish descent, and his wife Elinor Saunders (1841–1937).
Her father died when Elinor was two months old and her mother returned to the parental home in Guelph, Ontario, Canada with her two daughters, Lucy Christiana and Elinor.
Back in Canada, Elinor was schooled by her grandmother, Lucy Anne Saunders, in the ways of upper-class society. This early training not only gave her an entrée into aristocratic circles on her return to Europe, but it led to her being considered an authority on style and breeding when she worked in Hollywood in the 1920s.
Her mother remarried a Mr. Kennedy in 1871 and when Elinor was eight years old the family returned to Jersey. When there her schooling continued at home with a succession of governesses.
Elinor married Clayton Louis Glyn (1857–1915), a wealthy but spendthrift landowner, on 27 April 1892. The couple had two daughters, Margot and Juliet, but the marriage apparently foundered on mutual incompatibility although the couple remained together.
As a consequence Elinor had affairs with a succession of British aristocrats and some of her books are supposedly based on her various affairs, such as 'Three Weeks' (1907), allegedly inspired by her affair with Lord Alistair Innes Ker. That affair caused quite a furore and scandalized Edwardian society and one of the scenes in the book had one unnamed poet writing,
Would you like to sin
With Elinor Glyn
On a tiger skin?
Or would you prefer
To err with her
On some other fur?
She had began her writing in 1900, starting with a book based on letters to her mother, 'The Visits of Elizabeth'. And thereafter she more or less wrote one book each year to keep the wolf from the door, as her husband was debt-ridden from 1908, and also to keep up her standard of living. After several years of illness her husband died in 1915.
Early in her writing career she was recognised as one of the pioneers of what could be called erotic fiction, although not by modern-day standards, and she coined the use of the world 'It' to mean at the time sex-appeal and she helped to make Clara Bow a star by the use of the sobriquet for her of 'The It Girl'.
On the strength of her reputation and success she moved to Hollywood in 1920 and in 1921 was featured as one of the famous personalities in a Ralph Barton cartoon drawn especially for 'Vanity Fair' magazine.
A number of her books were made into films, most notably 'Beyond the Rocks' (1906), which starred Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson, and she was a scriptwriter for the silent movie industry, working for both MGM and Paramount Pictures in the mid-1920s. In addition she also had a brief career as one of the earliest female directors.
In 1927, by which time she had published 32 novels, she once again appeared in some verse of the day. Songsmith Lorenz Hart immortalised her in his song 'My Heart Stood Still' when he wrote,
I read my Plato
Love, I thought a sin
But since your kiss
I'm reading missus Glyn!
She was so universally popular and well-known in the 1920s that she even made a cameo appearance as herself in the 1928 film 'Show People'.
As well as her novels, she wrote wrote magazine articles for the Hearst Press giving advice on 'how to keep your man' and also giving health and beauty tips. In 1922 she published 'The Elinor Glyn System of Writing', which gives an insight into writing for Hollywood studios and magazine editors.
In later life she moved to the United Kingdom, settling in London. She wrote over 40 books, the last of which was 'The Third Eye' (1940) and she died in Chelsea on 23 September 1943, being survived by her two daughters.
Gerry Wolstenholme
November 2010
Her father died when Elinor was two months old and her mother returned to the parental home in Guelph, Ontario, Canada with her two daughters, Lucy Christiana and Elinor.
Back in Canada, Elinor was schooled by her grandmother, Lucy Anne Saunders, in the ways of upper-class society. This early training not only gave her an entrée into aristocratic circles on her return to Europe, but it led to her being considered an authority on style and breeding when she worked in Hollywood in the 1920s.
Her mother remarried a Mr. Kennedy in 1871 and when Elinor was eight years old the family returned to Jersey. When there her schooling continued at home with a succession of governesses.
Elinor married Clayton Louis Glyn (1857–1915), a wealthy but spendthrift landowner, on 27 April 1892. The couple had two daughters, Margot and Juliet, but the marriage apparently foundered on mutual incompatibility although the couple remained together.
As a consequence Elinor had affairs with a succession of British aristocrats and some of her books are supposedly based on her various affairs, such as 'Three Weeks' (1907), allegedly inspired by her affair with Lord Alistair Innes Ker. That affair caused quite a furore and scandalized Edwardian society and one of the scenes in the book had one unnamed poet writing,
Would you like to sin
With Elinor Glyn
On a tiger skin?
Or would you prefer
To err with her
On some other fur?
She had began her writing in 1900, starting with a book based on letters to her mother, 'The Visits of Elizabeth'. And thereafter she more or less wrote one book each year to keep the wolf from the door, as her husband was debt-ridden from 1908, and also to keep up her standard of living. After several years of illness her husband died in 1915.
Early in her writing career she was recognised as one of the pioneers of what could be called erotic fiction, although not by modern-day standards, and she coined the use of the world 'It' to mean at the time sex-appeal and she helped to make Clara Bow a star by the use of the sobriquet for her of 'The It Girl'.
On the strength of her reputation and success she moved to Hollywood in 1920 and in 1921 was featured as one of the famous personalities in a Ralph Barton cartoon drawn especially for 'Vanity Fair' magazine.
A number of her books were made into films, most notably 'Beyond the Rocks' (1906), which starred Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson, and she was a scriptwriter for the silent movie industry, working for both MGM and Paramount Pictures in the mid-1920s. In addition she also had a brief career as one of the earliest female directors.
In 1927, by which time she had published 32 novels, she once again appeared in some verse of the day. Songsmith Lorenz Hart immortalised her in his song 'My Heart Stood Still' when he wrote,
I read my Plato
Love, I thought a sin
But since your kiss
I'm reading missus Glyn!
She was so universally popular and well-known in the 1920s that she even made a cameo appearance as herself in the 1928 film 'Show People'.
As well as her novels, she wrote wrote magazine articles for the Hearst Press giving advice on 'how to keep your man' and also giving health and beauty tips. In 1922 she published 'The Elinor Glyn System of Writing', which gives an insight into writing for Hollywood studios and magazine editors.
In later life she moved to the United Kingdom, settling in London. She wrote over 40 books, the last of which was 'The Third Eye' (1940) and she died in Chelsea on 23 September 1943, being survived by her two daughters.
Gerry Wolstenholme
November 2010
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 11, 2021
Yes this is a relic from another time. Yes I am so thankful I don’t live in that time. This love story was interesting except I couldn’t get over Gaunt’s stalkerish tendencies, and random thoughts of brutal violence. Ava is a poor little rich girl who behaves like a fool but is somehow smart is really hard to sympathize with. That being said, I did binge read it, so it gets 3 stars. Oh wait, what about Larry?! I totally forgot about Larry, what happened to him. Honestly the cats were my favorite characters. Not as bad as The Great Gatsby (fight me).
February 27, 2021
Oh my goodness. "It" is the epitome of purple prose. As a concept "it" means someone with an indefinable attraction to others. People feel this quality when the person comes into the room, and if the man has "it" women fall in love with him, and if a woman has "it," then men do. This book was a big hit in the late 1920s and a silent movie based on the concept came out in 1927 with Clara Bow, who thereafter was known as the "It" Girl. Ava Cleveland was born into good society, but with the death of her parents, she and her brother Jimmy have tried to continue to live the good life, but without the money they once had. Ava meets James Gaunt at a house party in California and feels both fascinated and repelled by him. When her dress bills get too big and Jimmy's drug habit starts him down the path of stealing from his employer, Ava sullenly goes to work for Gaunt. He wants her badly, but realizes that he must deal carefully with her, since she has a tremendous distaste for men touching her. She says that she is saving herself for the one she loves, although she is very particular in terms of class. Since Gaunt has come from the lower classes--although now he is very rich and has exquisite taste--Ava thinks he is not for her. Their thoughts about the soul, the essentialness of love, the need for the eternal mate, etc. take up a lot of time and emotional energy. Finally, she agrees to have dinner with him in the hopes that he will forgive the debts that her brother has incurred and he won't have to go to prison. She goes sullenly, but dressed beautifully, realizing as the chauffeur drives her to Gaunt's palatial apartment, that she loves him, although she doesn't want to admit it. Little does she know that Gaunt has created an apartment within his in the hopes that she will marry him. After much back and forth they are able to mutually express their love--the end!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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June 26, 2025"On olemassa ominaisuus, joka on muutamilla henkilöillä ja joka vetää kaikkia toisia puoleensa magneettisella vetovoimallaan. Sen avulla te voitatte kaikki miehet, jos olette nainen - ja kaikki naiset, jos olette mies. Ilman sitä te olette sattuman varassa - eikä ole varmaa voitatteko ketään, tai pidättekö hänet luonanne hänet voitettuanne." Näin alkaa Elinor Glynin kirja Kunniansa hinnalla.
1920-luvun lopulla, äänielokuvan viimeisinä vuosina, Hollywood kaikessa hölmöydessään innostui etsimään ns. It-tyttöä. It tai Se ei ollut mitenkään määritelty tai juurikaan määriteltävissä, kunhan nyt pidettiin meteliä ja markkinoitiin sen varjolla romanttisia elokuvia.
Elinor Glynin roskaromaani Kunniansa hinnalla saa epäilyttävän kunnian olla ilmiön synnyttäjä. Kunniansa hinnalla on kauheaa hömppää, minkäänlaisia kirjallisia arvoja tällä ei ole, ainoastaan populaarikulttuuriin jättämänsä kyseenalainen jälki antaa teokselle edes jonkinlaista merkitystä.
Tyylipuhdas kioskitekele oli vähäjärkisen söpöstelykirjallisuuden kuningattaren Barbara Cartlandin suosikkilukemistoa, mikä kertoo molemmista aika paljon. Kahden päähenkilön päätyminen toistensa syliin on säälittävän ennalta-arvattava loppu eikä puistatusta lievitä lainkaan jatkuva rahalla pröystäily. Valitettavasti mikään ei tunnu muuttuneen sadassa vuodessa.
1920-luvun lopulla, äänielokuvan viimeisinä vuosina, Hollywood kaikessa hölmöydessään innostui etsimään ns. It-tyttöä. It tai Se ei ollut mitenkään määritelty tai juurikaan määriteltävissä, kunhan nyt pidettiin meteliä ja markkinoitiin sen varjolla romanttisia elokuvia.
Elinor Glynin roskaromaani Kunniansa hinnalla saa epäilyttävän kunnian olla ilmiön synnyttäjä. Kunniansa hinnalla on kauheaa hömppää, minkäänlaisia kirjallisia arvoja tällä ei ole, ainoastaan populaarikulttuuriin jättämänsä kyseenalainen jälki antaa teokselle edes jonkinlaista merkitystä.
Tyylipuhdas kioskitekele oli vähäjärkisen söpöstelykirjallisuuden kuningattaren Barbara Cartlandin suosikkilukemistoa, mikä kertoo molemmista aika paljon. Kahden päähenkilön päätyminen toistensa syliin on säälittävän ennalta-arvattava loppu eikä puistatusta lievitä lainkaan jatkuva rahalla pröystäily. Valitettavasti mikään ei tunnu muuttuneen sadassa vuodessa.
January 4, 2023
I thought this book would never end and it’s only 180 pages and when it ended it was so fast it felt like whiplash almost broke my neck
January 10, 2015
Tre stelle e mezzo
Forse, in quanto donna emancipata del XXI secolo, dovrei sentirmi offesa dalla rappresentazione dei rapporti uomo/donna narrati in questo libro: uno stalker maniaco del controllo che paragona le donne ai gatti e trama per la sottomissione della donna amata.
In realtà non è così.
Prima di tutto è un libro del 1927 e, che ci faccia piacere o no, le cose erano così.
Poi, quando John spiega i motivi per cui paragona le donne ai gatti, non posso dargli torto. Adoro i gatti, e tutto ciò che ha detto su di loro, è vero e, soprattutto, non dispregiativo.
Infine, la sua definizione di Amore ridimensione prepotentemente l’idea di sottomissione: ”E che cos’è l’amore? Una passione potente – la sua voce era severa, adesso. – Significa non pensare più a se stessi, per fondersi perfettamente con l’essere amato, il cui bene costituisce l’unico desiderio.”
Fattore di non minore importanza, i romanzi dal gusto retrò, che aprono le finestre sul passato, mi piacciano tantissimo.
Forse, in quanto donna emancipata del XXI secolo, dovrei sentirmi offesa dalla rappresentazione dei rapporti uomo/donna narrati in questo libro: uno stalker maniaco del controllo che paragona le donne ai gatti e trama per la sottomissione della donna amata.
In realtà non è così.
Prima di tutto è un libro del 1927 e, che ci faccia piacere o no, le cose erano così.
Poi, quando John spiega i motivi per cui paragona le donne ai gatti, non posso dargli torto. Adoro i gatti, e tutto ciò che ha detto su di loro, è vero e, soprattutto, non dispregiativo.
Infine, la sua definizione di Amore ridimensione prepotentemente l’idea di sottomissione: ”E che cos’è l’amore? Una passione potente – la sua voce era severa, adesso. – Significa non pensare più a se stessi, per fondersi perfettamente con l’essere amato, il cui bene costituisce l’unico desiderio.”
Fattore di non minore importanza, i romanzi dal gusto retrò, che aprono le finestre sul passato, mi piacciano tantissimo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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