Fenny
A Classic Coming-of-Age Novel of Love and Loss in 1930s Tuscany. Introduced by Jennie Godfrey
Published on 11. September 2025
416 pages
978-1-4059-8416-4 (ISBN)
Description
Rediscover the brilliance of Fenny in the Mermaid Collection - timeless classics by pioneering female authors, beautifully reissued to enchant today's readers.
A richly evocative coming-of-age novel, Fenny follows a young English governess who falls deeply in love with Tuscany in 1933, even as she faces the pain of unrequited love and the shadows of political unrest.
With a foreword by Jennie Godfrey
'The strange city through which they drove was the scenery of a dream . . .'
Yorkshire teacher Ellen Fenwick has never been abroad.
But when her mother dies, this young woman finds herself taking a position as governess to an English girl in Florence in the summer of 1933.
Little does Ellen realise how this girl, Juliet, and her family will claim her.
For as the summer passes, Ellen falls so in love with Italy and her new home that she cannot bear to leave - even when her own hopes of love are cruelly thwarted.
Even when the shadow of war falls across the country, she doesn't flee but clings on - for her friends, for those she loves more than herself.
Ellen - selfless, big-hearted, accepting - cannot know what is coming. Yet, she will not face it alone . . .
Praise for Lettice Cooper:
'A writer of quiet but strong, deep and varied gifts' Sunday Telegraph
'A storyteller of adventures of the heart' Jilly Cooper
A richly evocative coming-of-age novel, Fenny follows a young English governess who falls deeply in love with Tuscany in 1933, even as she faces the pain of unrequited love and the shadows of political unrest.
With a foreword by Jennie Godfrey
'The strange city through which they drove was the scenery of a dream . . .'
Yorkshire teacher Ellen Fenwick has never been abroad.
But when her mother dies, this young woman finds herself taking a position as governess to an English girl in Florence in the summer of 1933.
Little does Ellen realise how this girl, Juliet, and her family will claim her.
For as the summer passes, Ellen falls so in love with Italy and her new home that she cannot bear to leave - even when her own hopes of love are cruelly thwarted.
Even when the shadow of war falls across the country, she doesn't flee but clings on - for her friends, for those she loves more than herself.
Ellen - selfless, big-hearted, accepting - cannot know what is coming. Yet, she will not face it alone . . .
Praise for Lettice Cooper:
'A writer of quiet but strong, deep and varied gifts' Sunday Telegraph
'A storyteller of adventures of the heart' Jilly Cooper
Reviews / Votes
A writer of quiet but strong, deep and varied gifts * Sunday Telepgraph * A storyteller of adventures of the heart -- Jilly CooperMore details
Series
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Edition type
New edition
File size
1,16 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-4059-8416-4 (9781405984164)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Lettice Cooper was born in 1897 and grew up in Leeds, where her father ran an engineering firm. After reading classics at Oxford, she worked in the family business while writing her first book, The Lighted Room. After a short period at the feminist weekly Time and Tide, she worked at the Ministry of Food during the war. Over the course of her life, she wrote some twenty novels, many of which convey her deep socialist convictions and a loyalty to her Yorkshire roots. Lettice Cooper was devoted to Italy, especially Tuscany, and used it as the setting for several novels, including Fenny. She lived contentedly with her staunchly Tory sister in a London flat, was a great encourager of young writers, and helped to establish Public Lending Right.
