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The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother And Me Sofka Zinovieff

The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother And Me By Sofka Zinovieff

The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother And Me by Sofka Zinovieff


$17.49
Condition - Very Good
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Summary

Faringdon House in Oxfordshire was the home of Lord Berners, composer, writer, painter, friend of Stravinsky and Gertrude Stein, a man renowned for his eccentricity - masks, practical jokes, a flock of multi-coloured doves - and his homosexuality. This book tells his story.

The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother And Me Summary

The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother And Me by Sofka Zinovieff

Faringdon House in Oxfordshire was the home of Lord Berners, composer, writer, painter, friend of Stravinsky and Gertrude Stein, a man renowned for his eccentricity - masks, practical jokes, a flock of multi-coloured doves - and his homosexuality. Before the war he made Faringdon an aesthete's paradise, where exquisite food was served to many of the great minds, beauties and wits of the day. Since the early thirties his companion there was Robert Heber-Percy, twenty-eight years his junior, wildly physical, unscholarly, a hothead who rode naked through the grounds, loved cocktails and nightclubs, and was known to all as the Mad Boy. If the two men made an unlikely couple, at a time when homosexuality was illegal, the addition to the household in 1942 of a pregnant Jennifer Fry, a high society girl known to be 'fast', as Robert's wife was simply astounding. After Victoria was born the marriage soon foundered (Jennifer later married Alan Ross). Berners died in 1950, leaving Robert in charge of Faringdon, aided by a ferocious Austrian housekeeper who strove to keep the same culinary standards in a more austere age. This was the world Sofka Zinovieff, Victoria's daughter, a typical child of the sixties, first encountered at the age of seventeen. Eight years later, to her astonishment, Robert told her he was leaving her Faringdon House. Her book about Faringdon and its people is marvellously witty and full of insight, bringing to life a vanished world and the almost fantastical people who lived in it.

The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother And Me Reviews

"As classy and consuming a memoir as you're likely to read all autumn." -- Caroline Sanderson Bookseller "Prepare to be seduced by outlandish delights and strange creatures." -- Sebastian Shakespeare Tatler "Sumptuous." -- Daisy Goodwin Sunday Times "A vivid sketch of the extraordinarily glamourous society of Faringdon in its heyday, especially during the 30s." -- Dinah Birch Guardian "Zinovieff is an entertaining and amiable companion on this, at times, uncomfortable romp through her family saga." -- Sara Wheeler The Times

About Sofka Zinovieff

Sofka Zinovieff was born in London in 1961. She studied social anthropology at Cambridge, then lived in Greece and Moscow. She is the author of three previous books, Eurydice Street: A Place in Athens, Red Princess: A Revolutionary Life (both Granta) and The House on Paradise Street. She is married to a Greek and lives in Athens.

Additional information

GOR006349762
9780224096591
0224096591
The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother And Me by Sofka Zinovieff
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Vintage Publishing
2014-10-16
448
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother And Me