Henrietta Garnett
Acting the Part
Fanny Kemble: A Performed Life
By Deirdre David
University of Pennsylvania Press 384pp £26
Deirdre David has chosen a riveting subject, and has pertinently subtitled her book A Performed Life. Fanny Kemble was born in 1809 to a distinguished theatrical family: her aunt was the memorable tragedienne, Sarah Siddons; her father actor-manager of Drury Lane; her French mother, Marie-Thérèse, a child prodigy who later became a member of her husband’s company and was remembered for her performance of Macheath in The Beggar’s Opera.
Fanny, however, had no intention of going on stage. Actresses were still associated in the public imagination with prostitution and loose living, and her parents attached immense importance to being socially acceptable. Fanny, a wilful, farouche child, was sent off to an academy in Paris for four uninterrupted years to
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
London's East End was long synonymous with poverty and sweatshops, while its West End was associated with glamour and high society. But when it came to the fashion industry, were the differences really so profound?
Sharman Kadish - Winkle-pickers & Bum Freezers
Sharman Kadish: Winkle-pickers & Bum Freezers - Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners Shaped Global Style; Fashion City: ...
literaryreview.co.uk
In 1982, Donald Rumsfeld presented Saddam Hussein with a pair of golden spurs. Two decades later he was dropping bunker-busting bombs on his palaces.
Where did the US-Iraqi relationship go wrong?
Rory Mccarthy - The Case of the Vanishing Missiles
Rory Mccarthy: The Case of the Vanishing Missiles - The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the United States and the ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Barbara Comyns was a dog breeder, a house painter, a piano restorer, a landlady... And a novelist.
@nclarke14 on the lengths 20th-century women writers had to go to make ends meet:
Norma Clarke - Her Family & Other Animals
Norma Clarke: Her Family & Other Animals - Barbara Comyns: A Savage Innocence by Avril Horner
literaryreview.co.uk