Felony by Emma Tennant
Felony is the story of the literary treachery that took place at no. 43 via Romana, Florence, where Claire Clairmont, once lover of Lord Byron and mother of his daughter Allegra, lived until her death in 1879. It is also the story of Henry Jame's brilliant novella The Aspern Papers, which is based on that household and the nefarious doings of the lodger there, Edward Augustus Silsbee, thief and Shellyite. n Emma Tennant's novel, Claire Clairmont is nearly eighty years old. Looked after by her niece Paula and paid an exorbitant rent by Silsbee - who becomes Paula's lover to further his aim of acquiring the Shelley papers and letters at her aunt's death - Claire dotes on her great niece Georgina. It is Georgina who narrates this story from the perspective of a thirteen year old girl, in turn baffled and entranced by the gallery of rogues and blackmailers who batten on her great aunt. Who will extort the most from poor Claire, be it money, undiscovered poems by Shelley or simply anecdotes about Byron? enry James will set The Aspern Papers in Venice, not Florence, while Claire and her niece are transformed into the American Misses Bordereau. Jame's narrator will lead on the nie
Subtitled 'The Private History of the Aspern Papers', this is a tale of literary treachery which occurred in Florence where Claire Clairmont, former lover of Byron and mother of his daughter Allegra, lived until her death in 1879It also tells the story of the Henry James novella The Aspern Papers, which is based on that household. The novel opens in 1876 with Claire almost 80 and looked after by her niece Paula, and being paid a huge rent by the crooked Silsbee. He becomes Paula's lover to help his efforts to acquire the Shelley papers. Claire's great-niece Georgina, aged 13, narrates the story. Henry James disguises the setting and people in his novella, but is worried about the fate of his letters to Constance Woolson. A brilliant novel, beautifully told.
EMMA TENNANT became a full-time novelist with the apocalyptic 'The Time of the Crack' (1973), later reprinted as 'The Crack'. More than twenty books followed, including thrillers, comic fantasies, books for children and a series of unconventional and revisionary 'sequels' to classic texts, such as 'Tess' (1993); 'Pemberley' and 'An Unequal Marriage' (1993-4), and 'Emma in Love' (1996). Tennant was the founding editor of the innovative periodical 'Bananas' (1975); she has worked as general editor of 'In Verse' (1982) and as general editor of the Viking series 'Lives of Modern Women' (1985). She was awarded an Honorary D.Litt. from the University of Aberdeen in 1996 and lives in London.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780224060349 |
| ISBN 10 | 0224060341 |
| Title | Felony |
| Author | Emma Tennant |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Vintage Publishing |
| Year published | 2002-11-14 |
| Number of pages | 208 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |