I Left My Grandfather's House by Denton Welch
The third volume in Enitharmon s Denton Welch series is his autobiographical novella I Left My Grandfather s House, written in 1943, first published posthumously in 1958 and only briefly in print since. In the novella Welch recounts a walking tour undertaken in southern England ten years before, while he was a painting student at the Goldsmiths School of Art. His many adventures along the way are described with a characteristic lyricism and energy, as well as with a sense of nostalgia not only for the pre-war world, but also for the innocent enjoyment of existence in the years before Welch was permanently disabled by a life-threatening accident. As Edmund White has written: Welch has the power to generate interest out of even the most meagre materials. He had this gift from the beginning but suffering and illness refined it into a white-hot flame.
Denton Welch was born on 29 March 1915 in Shanghai, the youngest of three brothers. Welch was sent back to England to attend St Michael's prep school in Uckfield, and then Repton School, where his main achievements were in art. Soon after his sixteenth birthday he ran away from school. With his family's approval he enrolled at the Goldsmiths' School of Art in April 1933 to study painting. He showed great promise as an artist but in June 1935, while still a student, he was knocked off his bicycle by a motorist, severely damaging his spine and kidneys; for the rest of his life he was a semi-invalid. Welch settled in Kent, in a succession of rented flats and cottages. His final home was in the village of Crouch, where his faithful friend Eric Oliver cared for him until his premature death on 30 December 1948.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781904634287 |
| ISBN 10 | 1904634281 |
| Title | I Left My Grandfather's House |
| Author | Denton Welch |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Enitharmon Press |
| Year published | 2006-10-09 |
| Number of pages | 144 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |