The Good Bohemian

The Letters of Ida John

Format: Paperback
£14.99

Free UK P&P on online orders over £25

Adding to basket… The item has been added
'It is right that, after more than one hundred years, she should have her say' John Carey, Sunday TimesTwelve days before her twenty-fourth birthday, on the foggy morning of Saturday 12 January 1901, Ida Nettleship married Augustus John in a private ceremony at St Pancras Registry Office. The union went against the wishes of Ida’s parents, who aspired to an altogether more conventional match for their eldest daughter. But Ida was in love with Augustus, a man of exceptional magnetism also studying at the Slade, and who would become one of the most famous artists of his time. Ida’s letters – to friends, to family and to Augustus – reveal a young woman of passion, intensity and wit. They tell of the scandal she brought on the Nettleship family and its consquences; of hurt and betrayal as the marriage evolved into a three-way affair when Augustus fell in love with another woman, Dorelia; of Ida’s remarkable acceptance of Dorelia, their pregnancies and shared domesticity; of self-doubt, happiness and despair; and of finding the strength and courage to compromise and navigate her unorthodox marriage. Ida is a naturally gifted writer, and it is with a candour, intimacy and social intelligence extraordinary for a woman of her period that her correspondence opens up her world. Ida John died aged just thirty of puerperal fever following the birth of her fifth son, but in these vivid, funny and sometimes devastatingly sad letters she is startlingly alive on the page.
Write a Review

There are no reviews for this product yet - be the first

Publisher:
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Authors:
Holroyd, Michael|John, Rebecca
Year Published:
2018
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9781408873595
Number of Pages:
352
Publication Date:
17/05/2018
Place of Publication:
London
Language:
English
SKU:
9781408873595

Customers also bought