Claire Harman's biography of Sylvia Townsend Warner was published in 1989 by Chatto (Minerva pb 1990) and won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for 'a book of value from a writer of growing stature'. She was Co-ordinating Editor of PN Review from 1981 to 1984; has written short stories for radio; written for most of the major British literary papers; and edited Sylvia Townsend Warner's Diaries (1994) to wide acclaim. She has taught 19th and 20th century literature at Manchester University and now lives in Oxford with her daughter and two sons.
'A superb, highly intelligent, readable study...if a biography can claim perfect pitch, this one can' Eileen Battersby, Irish Times 'Excellent..unlikely to be bettered for years to come' Kathryn Hughes, New Statesman 'This scholarly, judicious and entertaining book is all that a biography should be' Ian McIntyre, The Times 'A great achievement' Andrew Marr, Observer 'Excellent' Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times 'A thoroughly entertaining as well as scholarly book' Allan Massie, Daily Telegraph
'A superb, highly intelligent, readable study...if a biography can claim perfect pitch, this one can' Eileen Battersby, Irish Times 'Excellent..unlikely to be bettered for years to come' Kathryn Hughes, New Statesman 'This scholarly, judicious and entertaining book is all that a biography should be' Ian McIntyre, The Times 'A great achievement' Andrew Marr, Observer 'Excellent' Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times 'A thoroughly entertaining as well as scholarly book' Allan Massie, Daily Telegraph
This is the second scholarly biography of Frances (Fanny) Burney to appear within the last two years (following Janice Farrar Thaddeus's Frances Burney: A Literary Life, LJ 7/00). A forerunner of Jane Austen, novelist Burney (1752-1840) was one of the first women in England to earn her living as a writer. Resourceful and resilient, she witnessed many historical events and associated with an array of Georgian literary and political notables. In addition to her fiction, she left thousands of pages of journals and letters, which have served as a rich but untrustworthy source for her biographers. When it was published in Great Britain last year, this study by the Oxford-based biographer Harman was considered one of the most readable, perceptive, and balanced portraits to date, and indeed it is. Compared with Thaddeus's erudite "literary life," with its dense, scholarly focus and emphasis on the textual analysis of Burney's work, Harman's work is more readable and reveals the personal side of the less-than-truthful author. Harman skillfully uncovers inconsistencies in Burney's memoir while accurately and vividly depicting her life as a middle-class woman in the turbulent 18th century. This accomplished and accessible biography is highly recommended for both academic and public libraries. Carol A. McAllister, Coll. of William & Mary Lib., Williamsburg, VA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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