Bøger af Ada Leverson

Ada Esther Leverson (née Beddington; 10 October 1862 - 30 August 1933) was a British writer who is known for her friendship with Oscar Wilde and for her work as a witty novelist of the fin-de-siècle. Leverson began writing during the 1890s, as a contributor to Black and White, Punch, The Yellow Book, St. Stephen's Review, Saturday Review, and Referee. She also worked as a drama critic, though when and what she wrote is unknown. Much of her work cannot be identified because she wrote anonymously, because she frequently befriended the people she parodied and critiqued. She was known as a wit; her writing has been compared to the work of Max Beerbohm and the stories of Saki.

It is a long and golden summer in the Edwardian period. London is abuzz with gentlemen in tall hats and ladies in flowing silk, some with money, and others who want it badly. Love and marriage are the great game, but the adventure is vastly varied, depending on who is playing. Creatures of wit find it their most impressive subject; creatures of love are either pinnacled or torn apart by its demands. Felicity, Sylvia and Savile Crofton, aged 25, 20 and 16 respectively, are deep in the melee. Felicity is married to Lord Chetwode, the man of her dreams, and is largely happy, but she is already feeling deeply the falling-off of contact as he pursues horseflesh and antiques across the country in ever-longer stays away. Her younger sister Sylvia is very much in the market, according to her father, who has many ideas of whom she might marry, but particularly favours a Greek millionaire, Mr Ridokanaki. He has no idea that her great love is his penniless secretary, Frank Woodville. Their brother Savile, on holiday from Eton, has not only the spirited attentions of young Dolly Clive to contend with, but also his great passion for an opera singer, whom he loves from afar. Somehow, all their problems must be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. A typically confident Savile tries to engineer a solution, but in the end it is love itself which cuts through. This mischievously witty tale of love and intrigue, the author's first, was published in 1907. Ada Leverson (nee Beddington) was born in 1862. She married Ernest Leverson at the age of 19, against her parents' consent, but the marriage was not a success. She became a contributor to several literary and artistic journals including Black and White, St Stephen's Review and, most notably, The Yellow Book in the 1890s. It was at this time, after she published a brilliantly successful sketch parody of his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, that Oscar Wilde desired to meet her, and dubbed her The Sphinx. They became the greatest of friends, and she was instrumental in helping him after the disaster of his trial, when many others deserted him. Her six sparklingly witty novels were published between 1907 and 1916. She died in 1933.

Edith and Bruce Ottley could not be called idyllically married. But a form of love persists between them, and their two precocious young children, Archie and Dilly, provide a further bond.Bruce's latest enthusiasms in their social circle are the Mitchells, whose parties are slightly risque and enormous fun, attracting all comers except the most staid. There the Ottleys meet Aylmer Ross, a handsome widowed barrister. Edith and he are drawn together irresistibly. But whilst Aylmer would like to take things further, Edith is loyal to Bruce. Their friendship, almost immediately quite intense, suffers onrushes and reverses as they grow to understand one another's limits.Then one day in Kensington Gardens Edith's world of loyalty is torn apart. She sees a couple clearly in love, hand in hand, sitting in a secluded seat. On closer examination she can't believe her eyes - one of them is Bruce! And the other is Miss Townsend, Archie and Dilly's governess! Will this deceit be enough to sway Edith and send her into Aylmer's willing embrace? What must she do ensure that everything turns out as it should?In Tenterhooks, her fourth novel, Ada Leverson rehearsed quite closely details of her own life. The decision of her husband Ernest to leave her and emigrate to Canada had been a major wrench. Exactly how nearly the plot follows reality is not known for certain but, with dash and sureness, the author delineates a sensitive and principled woman's responses to adversity, super-imposing upon them the wit and gaiety for which she was so renowned, creating a moving and entertaining portrait of a crisis in a marriage. The second of the three Ottleys novels,Tenterhooks was first published in 1912.

Valentia and Romer Wyburn have what seems to be a typical Edwardian marriage. Beautiful Valentia has found the handsome, solid and silently devoted Romer a little duller than she expected, and her high spirits have sought out a distant cousin, the elegant but poor artist Harry de Freyne, whose worldly attitude of fun suits her admirably. They are carrying on what they hope is a discreet affair. Meanwhile, Valentia's younger sister Daphne is being pursued by a wealthy American friend of Harry, Matthew Van Buren, who worships women in a respectful way that is typically transatlantic. Harry finds his attitude needless, being much more selfish and practical in his aims where the fair sex are concerned. Unfortunately for Van Buren, Daphne is equally unimpressed; her heart is already captivated by Cyril Foster, a 'baby Guardsman' whose lack of wealth is a problem, but who returns Daphne's liking, to the concern of those who want to see her set up comfortably in life. Will Valentia and Harry manage to get away with their affair? What will happen if Harry's meagre artistic income finally peters out entirely? Will he marry the illimitably-moneyed Miss Walmer, who, like almost all women, finds his easy charm extraordinarily attractive, but whose healthy love of hockey and florid complexion do not appeal to him in the least? Will the Wyburns' friend, the hugely successful playwright Hereford Vaughan, be able to help Valentia see what she is risking? The affair sizzles and the two grow ever more emboldened, until an overheard conversation brings everything to a head; the limit is reached. Surprisingly, it is quiet Romer Wyburn himself who provides a very unexpected answer. This delightfully witty comedy with touches of deeper drama was Ada Leverson's third novel; it was first published in 1911.