Rosamond Lehmann | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rosamond Nina Lehmann (1901-02-03)3 February 1901 Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Died | 12 March 1990(1990-03-12) (aged 89) London, England |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Genre | Romance |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Cecil Day-Lewis (1941–1950) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents | Rudolph Chambers Lehmann (father) |
| Relatives | Beatrix Lehmann (sister) John Lehmann (brother) |
Rosamond Nina Lehmann[3]CBE (3 February 1901 – 12 March 1990) was an English novelist and translator. Her first novel,Dusty Answer (1927), was asuccès de scandale; she subsequently became established in the literary world, and intimate with members of theBloomsbury set. Her novelThe Ballad and the Source received particular critical acclaim.
Rosamond Lehmann was born inBourne End, Buckinghamshire, the second of four children ofRudolph Chambers Lehmann (1856–1929) and his American wife, Alice Mary Davis (1873–1956), from New England.[4] Rosamond's father was aLiberalMP from 1906 to 1910, and founder ofGranta magazine and editor of theDaily News.[5] Because of this, Rosamond grew up in an affluent, well-educated, and well-known family; the American playwrightOwen Davis was Rosamond's cousin,[6] and her great-grandfatherRobert Chambers foundedChambers Dictionary.[7] Her great-uncle was the artistRudolf Lehmann.
Lehmann's older sister Helen was born in 1899, and her two younger siblings were born in 1903 and 1907 respectively. Her younger sisterBeatrix (1903–1979) became an actress; her younger brother,John (1907–1987), a writer and publisher.[8] Purportedly, Rosamond's father favoured Beatrix and her mother favoured John, leaving Rosamond feeling neglected. Because of this, supposedly, she turned to writing.[9]
By 1911, Lehmann was being educated at home by the family's live-in "Childrens Government", Maria Jacquemin. Also in the home lived the family's eight servants.[8] Rosamond's mother also instilled feminist ideals into her children.[10]
In 1919 Lehmann won a scholarship toGirton College, Cambridge. She graduated with second-class degrees in both English Literature (1921) and Modern and Medieval Languages (1922). There, she also met her first husband,Leslie Runciman (later 2ndViscount Runciman of Doxford).[10] They married in December 1923, and the couple went to live inNewcastle upon Tyne.[11][2] It was an unhappy marriage: "He [Runciman] panicked when [Lehmann] became pregnant and insisted on an abortion, after which he praised her for being once again "all clean and clear inside".[12] The two separated in 1927 and were officially divorced later that year.[2]
In 1927, Lehmann published her first novel,Dusty Answer, to great critical and popular acclaim. The novel's heroine, Judith, is attracted to both men and women, and interacts with fairly openly gay and lesbian characters during her years at Cambridge. The novel was considered asuccès de scandale and is thought to be based on her Cambridge years.[2]
Lehmann went on to publish six more novels, as well as a play (No More Music, 1939), a collection of short stories (The Gypsy's Baby & Other Stories, 1946), a spiritual autobiography (The Swan in the Evening, 1967), and a photographic memoir of her friends (Rosamond Lehmann's Album, 1985), many of whom were famous (Bloomsbury Group).[10]
She also translated two French novels into English: Jacques Lemarchand'sGenevieve (1948) andJean Cocteau's 1929 novelLes Enfants Terribles asThe Holy Terrors (1955).
Lehmann's novelThe Weather in the Streets (1936) was made into a film in 1983, which starredMichael York andJoanna Lumley.
Her 1953 novelThe Echoing Grove was made into the 2002 filmHeart of Me, starringHelena Bonham Carter as the main character, Dinah.
After Lehmann's divorce from Leslie Runciman, she marriedWogan Philipps in 1928. Phillips was an artist who later succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Milford. Together they had two children: a son,Hugo (1929–1999), and a daughter, Sarah, also known as Sally (1934–1958).[13] The family lived atIpsden House inOxfordshire between 1930 and 1939.[12] While living in Oxfordshire, Lehmann began to mingle with prominent figures of theBloomsbury Group, includingLeonard andVirginia Woolf, though "Lehmann was unsure how to respond to the older woman's combination of teasing and flattery".[2][3]
Lehmann's marriage with Phillips fell apart during the late 1930s, after Phillips left for Spain during theSpanish Civil War to support theanti-fascist cause. The separation, and Lehmann's affair with the journalistGoronwy Rees, led the two to divorce in 1944.[1][2]
During theSecond World War, Lehmann lived in the English countryside with her two children, and contributed to and helped to editNew Writing, a periodical edited by her brotherJohn Lehmann. She was also an active opponent offascism, and spoke at anti-fascist meetings in Paris and London, as well as being active inPEN International.[2][10][14][15]
Lehmann's affair with Goronwy Rees began in 1936 and ended when she found out Rees was engaged to another woman, by reading about the engagement in the newspaper.[12] Afterward, Lehmann entered a "very public affair" for nine years (1941–1950) with the married poetCecil Day-Lewis. The two went on holidays and lived together, and Lehmann tried to convince him to leave his wife for her. In the end, however, Day-Lewis left both his wife and Lehmann for actressJill Balcon.[12] This heartbreak inspired Lehmann's novelThe Echoing Grove (1953), to great success.
Lehmann's beloved daughter, Sarah, died ofpoliomyelitis in 1958. Her death led Lehmann to retreat from the public world and turn to spiritualism. Lehmann believed that Sarah lived on after death.[16] Her 1967 novelThe Swan in the Evening is an autobiography that Lehmann described as her "Last Testament". In it she intimately describes the emotions she felt at Sarah's birth, and also those she felt at her daughter's abrupt death. The novel also recounts the psychic experiences Lehmann claims to have had in relation to Sarah's death, a theme she revisits in her 1986 anthologyMoments of Truth, which is a collection of letters from 'beyond the grave' purportedly dictated by Sarah. Some of these letters also appeared in an anthology of similar writings,The Awakening Letters, co-edited by Lehmann.[16][17]
Nearly blind fromcataracts, Lehmann died at home in Clareville Grove, London, on 12 March 1990, aged 89.
