Best Selling Books by Rebecca West

A collection of Rebecca West''s critical thought, essays, and reviews that sparkles with her wit and intelligence Throughout her life, West worked as a journalist and critic, and in this collection readers will discover her vibrant voice, which is at times frank and frequently humorous. Whether considering her escapades in Prohibition-era New York or her own path to writing fiction, West''s essays offer captivating stories and apt reflections on human foibles—as well as her own personality. That same honesty is evident in her reviews, in which West tackles subjects such as Winston Churchill''s memoir and Brave New World, but never shies away from either a critical or playful tone. A wonderful introduction to the author''s nonfiction writing, and a veritable goldmine for fans, The Essential Rebecca West brings the writer, her voice, and her times to life.

"An authentic masterpiece." — The North American Review. Recounting the homecoming of a shell-shocked officer, this novel offers a compelling look at the far-reaching effects of the First World War and the shifting nature of English class structure.

A collection of Rebecca West''s early journalistic writings reveals her clarity of mind, severity of wit, and relevancy in today''s modern world In this collection of early writings, beginning when Rebecca West was just eighteen years old, Jane Marcus sheds light on one of the foremost feminist and political thinkers of our time. West''s essays, reviews, and public correspondence tackle many subjects, including politics, suffrage, education, morality and ethics, the arts, and social figures of the day. Her writings offer a glimpse of the real Rebecca—not some stuffy suffragette, but a vibrant, funny, provocative, and brilliant woman whose determined pen strokes outwit her contemporaries and remain inspiring today. A feminist to the core, West parried with her readers, other writers, and a culture slow to accept change. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Rebecca West featuring rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the Department of Special Collections and University Archives, McFarlin Library, at the University of Tulsa.

From the time that George Bernard Shaw remarked that “Rebecca West could handle a pen as brilliantly as ever I could and much more savagely,” West’s writings and her politics have elicited strong reactions. This collection of her letters—the first ever published—has been culled from the estimated ten thousand she wrote during her long life. The more than two hundred selected letters follow this spirited author, critic, and journalist from her first feminist campaign for women’s suffrage when she was a teenager through her reassessments of the twentieth century written in 1982, in her ninetieth year. The letters, which are presented in full, include correspondence with West’s famous lover H. G. Wells and with Shaw, Virginia Woolf, Emma Goldman, Noel Coward, and many others; offer pronouncements on such contemporary authors as Norman Mailer, Nadine Gordimer, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; and provide new insights into her battles against misogyny, fascism, and communism. West deliberately fashions her own biography through this intensely personal correspondence, challenging rival accounts of her groundbreaking professional career, her frustrating love life, and her tormented family relations. Engrossing to read, the collection sheds new light on this important figure and her social and literary milieu.

Shares the author''s impressions of Yugoslavia, and describes the history of the region and the sources of its political problems

A "compelling . . . oddly intriguing" psychological thriller set in fin-de-siècle Paris from the New York Times–bestselling author of Black Lamb and Grey Falcon ( The New York Times). During early revolutionary stirrings in Russia, after an unexpected turn of events, Laura Rowan, the coddled granddaughter of an exiled British nobleman, becomes her grandfather''s sole companion on a fateful train ride. In France, a young revolutionary approaches Laura and her grandfather with information that will turn her world upside down, and their travels become a thrilling journey into the heart of the struggle against Tsarist Russia. In this suspenseful novel, West brings to life a battle between entitled imperials and the passionate, savvy communist revolutionaries who dare to face them.

West''s acclaimed examination of traitors, this gripping profile takes readers inside World War II spy rings and gets to the heart of what it means to betray one''s country Throughout her career, Rebecca West dug into psyches, real and fictional, to try to understand the meaning of betrayal. In the aftermath of World War II, West was incensed when several wartime turncoats were tried with seeming indifference—and worse, sympathy—from the British public. In exploring these traitors'' origins, crimes, and motivations, West exposes how class division, greed, and discrimination can taint loyalties and redraw the relationships between individuals and their fatherland. A fascinating book, The Meaning of Treason combines the intrigue of a spy novel with West''s classic, careful dissection of man''s moral struggles.

Isabelle, a wealthy American widow, arrives in France to restart her life and discovers she has her choice of eligible suitors. Torn between a placid liaison with a southerner and a tortuous affair with a Frenchman, Isabelle''s plans suddenly take an unexpected turn that will ultimately lead her to a love that will force her to reconsider the implications of her affluent existence.

The lives of the talented Aubrey children have long been clouded by their father''s genius for instability, but his new job in the London suburbs promises, for a time at least, reprieve from scandal and the threat of ruin. Mrs. Aubrey, a former concert pianist, struggles to keep the family afloat, but then she is something of a high-strung eccentric herself, as is all too clear to her daughter Rose, through whose loving but sometimes cruel eyes events are seen. Still, living on the edge holds the promise of the unexpected, and the Aubreys, who encounter furious poltergeists, turn up hidden masterpieces, and come to the aid of a murderess, will find that they have adventure to spare. In The Fountain Overflows, a 1957 best seller, Rebecca West transmuted her own volatile childhood into enduring art. This is an unvarnished but affectionate picture of an extraordinary family, in which a remarkable stylist and powerful intelligence surveys the elusive boundaries of childhood and adulthood, freedom and dependency, the ordinary and the occult.

A travelogue and historical exploration of Mexico from one of the twentieth century''s greatest travel writers Dame Rebecca West travels through Mexico and explores its people, history, religion, and culture in her unfinished work Survivors in Mexico, carefully stitched together by Bernard Schweizer in this posthumously published edition. West tackles the country''s broad historical legacy—the Spanish conquest and Mexican revolution, the muralist movement, race relations, and contemporary life—and delves into the personal, intimate lives of key figures such as Hernán Cortés, Montezuma, Dr. Atl, Diego Rivera, and Leon Trotsky. Conceived as a companion to West''s masterful classic Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, this book showcases the complexity of West''s character, addresses the paradoxes inherent in her work, and allows for a mature understanding of her ideology. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Rebecca West featuring rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the Department of Special Collections and University Archives, McFarlin Library, at the University of Tulsa.

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In this modern fairy tale, Rebecca West transports her reader with a tale of the polar opposites of mind and spirit, love and power Harriet Hume''s unchanging beauty and commitment to her art stand in stark contrast to Arnold Condorex''s more worldly goals. After a romantic tryst, she discovers that she can read his mind, but Arnold, with his sights set on moving up in the world, quickly parts from the mysterious lady. As they encounter each other over the years, Harriet''s intuitive powers continue to unsettle Arnold, opening his eyes to the darker elements of his political and financial aspirations, even as he remains drawn to her. Beautifully drawn and filled with magical touches, West''s fantasy explores innate and learned gender roles, as her characters uncover the mystery surrounding their otherworldly connection.

A beautiful actress of the 1920s faces painful decisions about her lovers and her future in Rebecca West''s posthumously published semi-autobiographical novel Star of the stage, Sunflower has everything but the attention she craves from her long-time—and married—lover, Lord Essington, a brilliant and intense man occupied with more intellectual thoughts. Eager for a more rewarding experience, Sunflower must decide whether another "great man," the Australian Francis Pitt, will offer a more traditional relationship and happiness. Written during West''s own psychoanalysis and never finished, Sunflower ponders topics of the power struggle between the sexes, and a woman''s freedom to determine her romantic destiny. Drawn heavily from West''s own relationships with H.G. Wells and Lord Beaverbrook, this roman à clef gives a glimpse of the author''s own struggle to find a satisfying relationship.

Two young women come of age in a novel "unbelievably rich in character, incident, and observation." -- The Boston Globe Their childhood and adolescence were overshadowed by the Great War. Now, in its lonely aftermath, Rose and Mary Aubrey find themselves deprived of the guiding strength of their cousin Rosamund when she marries a man of dubious morals and intolerable vulgarity. Retreating to an inn on the Thames, they find a haven of security with old friends. Into this fragile Eden a new, disruptive force is introduced; Rose discovers the power of love, and, confronting her own sexuality, learns to delight in it. With extraordinary fierceness and candor, Rebecca West has written a portrait of sexual awakening, one that allows her characters an uncanny glimpse of our own age. "Comes as close as we are ever likely to get to a self-portrait of the extraordinary woman who created her." -- Sunday Observer (London) "The author’s searching, stinging, imaginative intelligence encompasses art and love and justice and simple humanness." -- Kirkus Reviews