Testament of Friendship
The Story of Winifred Holtby
Published on 22. March 2012
224 pages
978-1-4055-1555-9 (ISBN)
Description
WRITTEN WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY MARK BOSTRIDGE
In her bestselling first volume of autobiography, Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain passionately recorded the agonising years of the First World War, lamenting the destruction of a generation which for her included those she most dearly loved - her lover, her brother and her closest friends.
In Testament of Friendship Brittain tells the story of the woman who helped her survive those tragic years - the writer Winifred Holtby. They met at Somerville College, Oxford, immediately after the war. Their friendship continued through Vera's marriage and their separate but parallel writing careers until Winifred's untimely death at the age of thirty-seven. When she died, her fame as a writer was about to reach its peak with the publication of her greatest novel, South Riding.
A moving record of a friendship between two women of courage, determination and intelligence and a wonderful portrait of a lifelong love. Testament of Friendship now takes its rightful place as a Virago Modern Classic.
In her bestselling first volume of autobiography, Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain passionately recorded the agonising years of the First World War, lamenting the destruction of a generation which for her included those she most dearly loved - her lover, her brother and her closest friends.
In Testament of Friendship Brittain tells the story of the woman who helped her survive those tragic years - the writer Winifred Holtby. They met at Somerville College, Oxford, immediately after the war. Their friendship continued through Vera's marriage and their separate but parallel writing careers until Winifred's untimely death at the age of thirty-seven. When she died, her fame as a writer was about to reach its peak with the publication of her greatest novel, South Riding.
A moving record of a friendship between two women of courage, determination and intelligence and a wonderful portrait of a lifelong love. Testament of Friendship now takes its rightful place as a Virago Modern Classic.
Reviews / Votes
Throughout their correspondence, the fragile Brittain is often painfully demanding - but the role of devoted supporter seems to gratify Holtby * Spectator * Holtby certainly helped Brittain write by looking after her children. But they also both helped each other work. And they each saved the other's best book * Guardian *More details
Series
Edition
Digital original
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Little, Brown Book Group
Edition type
Digital original
File size
0,81 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-4055-1555-9 (9781405515559)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
03/2012
Virago Press Ltd
€19.00
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Vera Brittain was born in 1893, and grew up in provincial comfort in Macclesfield and Buxton. In 1914, just as war was breaking out, she won an exhibition to Somerville College, Oxford, interrupting her studies the following year to enlist as a VAD nurse. She became one of the best-loved writers of her time with the publication, in 1933, of her passionate record of a lost generation, Testament of Youth. She wrote twenty-nine books in all, and was a prolific lecturer and journalist, who devoted much of her energy to the causes of peace and feminism. Vera Brittain died in 1970. The authorised biography, Vera Brittain: A Life (1995) by Paul Berry and Mark Bostridge is published by Virago Press.
