A stranger still

Description:

FROM THE BOOK JACKET: A Stranger Still was first published in 1935 under Anna Kavan’s early married name of Helen Ferguson. An intriguing, well-plotted story, it was much acclaimed at the time, and its freshness and vigour remain undiminished. The wealthy Lewison family occupy centre stage. William, a widower, presides forcefully over his empire of Greater London stores, as well as over his sons, Cedric and Martin, and his impressionable daughter, Gwenda. A fictional ‘Anna Kavan’ appears as a young girl adrift from her husband and now in pursuit of romantic fulfillment. The story takes us from fashionable and Bohemian London to Paris, the South of France and Italy. The autobiographical element is implicit for those familiar with the author’s enigmatic life. Anna Kavan captures the ambience of the thirties with conviction, yet her pre-hallucinogenic writing has the uninhibitedness and immediacy of a novel of today. (From the book jacket, british reprint published in 1995).

subjects: female emancipation,  autobiographical,  bildungsroman,  Women,  Fiction

People: William Lewison,  Cedric Lewison,  Martin Lewison,  Germaine Lewison,  Gwenda Lewison,  Gerald Gill,  Anthony Quested,  Tony Quested,  Hubert Byrne,  David Fairborther,  George West,  Winny West,  Edward Wilbur,  Claydon,  Mary Graham,  Anna Kavan,  Matthew Kavan,  Catherine Howard,  Lauretta Bland

Places: Starling Hill,  Worcester Road,  Ethelbert Place,  London,  Thazila,  Nice,  Bandol,  Toulon,  Riviera,  Gardone Lake,  Bellevue hotel

Times: 1930-1940