Constance Beresford-Howe (1922–2016)
Auteur van The Book of Eve
Over de Auteur
Werken van Constance Beresford-Howe
Of this Day's Journey 1 exemplaar
Of this day's journey 1 exemplaar
Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Gangbare naam
- Beresford-Howe, Constance
- Geboortedatum
- 1922-11-10
- Overlijdensdatum
- 2016-01-20
- Geslacht
- female
- Nationaliteit
- Canada
- Geboorteplaats
- Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Plaats van overlijden
- Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, UK
- Woonplaatsen
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Montréal, Québec, Canada - Opleiding
- McGill University (BA, 1945, MA, 1946)
Brown University (PhD, 1965) - Beroepen
- novelist
university lecturer - Organisaties
- McGill University
Ryerson Polytechnical Institute - Korte biografie
- Constance Beresford-Howe, novelist (b at Montréal 10 Nov 1922). The author of 10 novels and various magazine pieces, Beresford-Howe was educated at McGill (BA, 1945, MA, 1946) and at Brown University (PhD, 1965). While a member of the McGill department of English (1949-71), she wrote 4 novels exploring the emotional lives of young women: The Unreasoning Heart (1946); Of This Day's Journey (1947); The Invisible Gate (1949); and My Lady Greensleeves (1955).
In 1971, Beresford-Howe moved to Toronto, where she taught English at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Ryerson Polytechnic University) until 1987. Since 1971 she has published 6 more novels: The Book of Eve (1973), A Population of One (1977), The Marriage Bed (1981),Night Studies (1985), Prospero's Daughter (1989) and A Serious Widow (1991). These novels concern the daily lives of contemporary women. Eve, a stage adaptation by Larry Fineberg of The Book of Eve, premiered at the STRATFORD FESTIVAL 14 July 1976.
Author JEAN WILSON
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Besprekingen
The Book of Eve door Constance Beresford-Howe
To reread
1 
triscuit | 1 andere bespreking | Apr 25, 2018 |
triscuit | 1 andere bespreking | Apr 25, 2018 | 
This was the first book by this Canadian author that I ever read. I was hooked. It is the story of Anne Graham who has 2 young children and is pregnant. Her husband has just announced he is leaving her for his secretary. Sounds trite now but when it was published (1981) the women's rights movement was in its infancy. In its way it was just as inspiring as Marilyn French's The Women's Room.
I think Constance Beresford-Howe deserves to be much better known as a Canadian writer. She is an astute observer of people and understands that everyone, from the cleaner to the school director, has their own thoughts and desires and foibles.
This book is set in a college in Toronto called Simcoe. Beresford-Howe taught at McGill and Ryerson for many years and although she says in her dedication to her Ryerson colleagues that none of them are depicted on these pages, surely some of their attitudes and idiosyncracies made it through to her writing.
The college is a circular twenty story high rise and features a quote from Dante's Inferno at the entrance. Imogen Hughes, English teacher, thinks the geography of the school is like Dante's Hell only upside-down. On the ground floor is Incontinence (six washrooms), Lust and Gluttony (the cafeteria) but the really big vices are on the top floors: Thievery, Flattery and Hypocrisy with traitors at the very top.
On a fall night, as a thunderstorm cuts the electricity to the school (and the rest of the downtown), the various characters face their personal difficulties and, if not precisely triumph over them, at least rise up a few notches on the ladder out of perdition. Very satisfying.… (meer)
This book is set in a college in Toronto called Simcoe. Beresford-Howe taught at McGill and Ryerson for many years and although she says in her dedication to her Ryerson colleagues that none of them are depicted on these pages, surely some of their attitudes and idiosyncracies made it through to her writing.
The college is a circular twenty story high rise and features a quote from Dante's Inferno at the entrance. Imogen Hughes, English teacher, thinks the geography of the school is like Dante's Hell only upside-down. On the ground floor is Incontinence (six washrooms), Lust and Gluttony (the cafeteria) but the really big vices are on the top floors: Thievery, Flattery and Hypocrisy with traitors at the very top.
On a fall night, as a thunderstorm cuts the electricity to the school (and the rest of the downtown), the various characters face their personal difficulties and, if not precisely triumph over them, at least rise up a few notches on the ladder out of perdition. Very satisfying.… (meer)
If you know the story of Shakespeare's Tempest then you know the barebones of this story. Canadian born, but now living in England, Montague Weston is a famous writer who has recently won the Booker. Married 3 times but now a widower he is living in a mansion near Canterbury with his oldest daughter Nan and his secretary Hamish. The story is narrated by another daughter, Polly, who is recovering from a car accident that broke her leg and killed her lover. When Polly and Monty meet in front of Harrod's after a 4 year estrangement, Monty invites Polly to recuperate at his home. It turns out that Monty wants to see Nan settled in a marriage and he wants Polly's help in this task. Several eligible men are considered and eventually a marriage is in the offing. Polly is uneasy about this but her father is a forceful man and gets his way. The ending is worthy of a Shakespearean drama.
I enjoyed the story although I thought it seemed a little outdated for the time it was set (1988). As always, Beresford-Howe masterfully creates characters that you can almost see.… (meer)
I enjoyed the story although I thought it seemed a little outdated for the time it was set (1988). As always, Beresford-Howe masterfully creates characters that you can almost see.… (meer)
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Statistieken
- Werken
- 12
- Leden
- 283
- Populariteit
- #82,295
- Waardering
- 3.9
- Besprekingen
- 8
- ISBNs
- 46
- Talen
- 4
- Favoriet
- 4