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A Comedy of Masks
"Go back to your guests -- for I know, you see, whence you come; take up your part in the play; be ready with your cues. It's all masks and dominoes; what does the form or color of it matter? Underneath it all, you are yourself -- with your beautiful sorrow, your memories, your transcendent happiness. Nothing can touch that." Philip Rainham, last in a line of shipbuilders in the decaying and forlorn shipyards of London, has seen little of Eve Sylvester during the past two years. It is with a slight shock that he realizes how completely she has grown up. He remembers her in so many phases of childhood and little girlhood, up to the more recent occasions when he met her riding in the park with her brother -- and she had waved her whip to him, looking slim and pretty, in the trying costume that cruel fashion prescribes for girls who ride. For Rainham these are puzzling, wearying times -- although matters of interest keep appearing -- such as his new friendships with painters, the talented and brash Lightmark, and the rancorous but somehow magisterial Osywn. And with Lightmark interested in Eve . . . how disturbing some aspects of life are seeming! What are these emotions he is feeling -- and why are they tearing him apart? The co-author of this remarkable novel of love, betrayal and self-sacrifice, Ernest Dowson (1867-1900), achieved his greatest fame as a poet associated with the Aesthetic Movement in England.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1893
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About the author
Ernest Dowson
89 books44 followersErnest Christopher Dowson was an English poet, novelist and writer of short stories, associated with the Decadent movement.
Dowson attended The Queen's College, Oxford, but left before obtaining a degree. In November 1888, he started work with his father at Dowson and Son, a dry-docking business in Limehouse, east London, established by the poet's grandfather. He led an active social life, carousing with medical students and law pupils, going to music halls, and taking the performers to dinner. Meanwhile, he was also working assiduously at his writing. He was a member of the Rhymers' Club, which included W. B. Yeats and Lionel Johnson. He was also a frequent contributor to the literary magazines The Yellow Book and The Savoy. Dowson collaborated on two unsuccessful novels with Arthur Moore, worked on a novel of his own, Madame de Viole, and wrote reviews for The Critic.
Dowson was also a prolific translator of French fiction, including novels by Balzac and the Goncourt brothers, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos.
In 1889, at the age of 23, Dowson fell in love with 11-year-old Adelaide "Missie" Foltinowicz, the daughter of a Polish restaurant owner. Adelaide is reputed to be the subject of one his best-known poems, Non Sum Qualis eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae. He pursued her unsuccessfully; in 1897, she married a tailor who lodged above her father's restaurant and Dowson was crushed. In August, 1894, Dowson's father, who was in the advanced stages of tuberculosis, died of an overdose of chloral hydrate. His mother, who was also consumptive, hanged herself in February, 1895, and soon Dowson began to decline rapidly.
Robert Sherard one day found Dowson almost penniless in a wine bar and took him back to the cottage in Catford where he was himself living. Dowson spent the last six weeks of his life at Sherard's cottage and died there of alcoholism at the age of 32. He is buried in the Roman Catholic section of nearby Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries.
Dowson attended The Queen's College, Oxford, but left before obtaining a degree. In November 1888, he started work with his father at Dowson and Son, a dry-docking business in Limehouse, east London, established by the poet's grandfather. He led an active social life, carousing with medical students and law pupils, going to music halls, and taking the performers to dinner. Meanwhile, he was also working assiduously at his writing. He was a member of the Rhymers' Club, which included W. B. Yeats and Lionel Johnson. He was also a frequent contributor to the literary magazines The Yellow Book and The Savoy. Dowson collaborated on two unsuccessful novels with Arthur Moore, worked on a novel of his own, Madame de Viole, and wrote reviews for The Critic.
Dowson was also a prolific translator of French fiction, including novels by Balzac and the Goncourt brothers, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos.
In 1889, at the age of 23, Dowson fell in love with 11-year-old Adelaide "Missie" Foltinowicz, the daughter of a Polish restaurant owner. Adelaide is reputed to be the subject of one his best-known poems, Non Sum Qualis eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae. He pursued her unsuccessfully; in 1897, she married a tailor who lodged above her father's restaurant and Dowson was crushed. In August, 1894, Dowson's father, who was in the advanced stages of tuberculosis, died of an overdose of chloral hydrate. His mother, who was also consumptive, hanged herself in February, 1895, and soon Dowson began to decline rapidly.
Robert Sherard one day found Dowson almost penniless in a wine bar and took him back to the cottage in Catford where he was himself living. Dowson spent the last six weeks of his life at Sherard's cottage and died there of alcoholism at the age of 32. He is buried in the Roman Catholic section of nearby Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries.
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February 2, 2017
A situational drama; the story's suspense is driven by Victorian era mores of the time. Prose is typical of the time - long sentences with lots of commas. I read lost stories like this for their historical value; that is, to catch a glimpse of a place and a time. For comparison, imagine reading "Bright Lights, Big City" in the year 2208.
Displaying 1 of 1 review