Mary Wesley is descended from the Duke of Wellington and grew up a rebel. She married her first husband for escape. Her second husband, Eric Siepmann, was a writer who never managed to make any money and was feckless and bohemian. In between Swinfen and Siepmann, she had a love affair with Czech war hero, Heinz Ziegler — and possibly with his brother at the same time.
At the outbreak of WW2 she worked for MI5 breaking codes. Mary wrote about the atmosphere of the home front and how war dislocates families, and how a sense of the imminence of death loosens the inhibitions. It is a story of near-suicide and reckless courage, and tells how a passionate and headstrong woman turned her back on her privileged position and lived by her own uncompromising terms. ( )

Though I don't remember the contents, I do remember reading Mary Wesley's novels when they were first published on the recommendation of my mother. She, only 12 years younger than Mary, was entertained by the author's bohemian lifestyle and entranced by the idea of someone making a new and successful life in her seventies. There is hope for us all...

So I was intrigued to read this biography, and fascinated by Mary's eventful life. More or less abandoned by her upper-crust family who went to live in India leaving her behind, Mary during the war took a multitude of lovers, did secret work, married a titled rich man, and had another man's child before leaving him. Later she married again to a seeming incompetent charmer, and lived the next 30 years in great poverty, before becoming a widow and finding her literary voice.

An ideal subject for a biography then, and Patrick Marnham certainly did his research. But for much of this read I felt as though I were seeing Mary through the wrong end of a telescope. So many events and names, but I was clueless as to how Mary felt about much of it. Patrick interviewed her many times but didn't seem to be able to delve where she was reluctant to elucidate. So, a fascinating, generous woman who attracted people, but was distant with her own children; who seemed to role with fortune and misfortune with equal grace, and still to me a conundrum. I will be looking out for one of her novels to see if she reveals herself more clearly in them.

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While I won't say this is the most stunningly written biography I've ever read, Wesley's life was interesting enough to keep me turning the pages, even if not compulsively. Since I'm looking at it from a research POV, I appreciated the fact that most of the book involved her life before she became a writer -- there's plenty of post-publication documentation on the record. Still, he did a very thorough job and her voice comes through the narrative, which is a good thing. ( )

A fascinating insight into the life of Mary Wesley. If you thought some of her characters and story lines were a little far fetched read this biography and you'll see her own life was as outrageous, tragic and hilarious as that of her characters. Well written too! ( )

I've finished up the biography [Wild Mary: A life of Mary Wesley] by [[Patrick Marnham]] which, for some reason I had a need to tear through quickly. I wasn't reading it for the usual reasons, that is, simply curious about the period or the life as a whole. I was reading as a writer and a woman, who herself hasn't for one reason and another, moved very swiftly, and found herself wondering very much "How the heck did this happen?" Namely, how does it happen that a person only gets around to writing and publishing ten books between the ages of 70 and 81, and damned excellent books to boot? I found my answer. One part of it is that she was busy. With lovers, with children, with trying intra-family relationships that took up a lot of bandwidth, with moving constantly, and with trying to make a living however she could. She also lacked discipline entirely, due to having had minimal schooling, and I think she had to learn it inch by inch. Mary literally had no center to her life, no stable core of either people or places that she could rely on to welcome her, to call home. She, in fact, labored mightily to become a center herself, for her 3 boys and her second husband, Eric Siepman, whom she adored although his charms are opaque at this distance.
Towards the end of the biography Marnham lists Mary's recurring 'themes' in a footnote: "The four major themes in her ten novels were ambiguity in personal identity, the dysfunctional family, marital rape and the affirmation of illegitimacy. Among other themes that appear repeatedly are incest, revenge, suicide by drowning, parental interference, the everlasting ideal house, parental snobbery or racism, and the elderly seducer." A footnote!
Which leads me to my thoughts about not Mary Wesley's life but [[Patrick Marnham]]'s biography of her. It is an 'official' one; he had access to papers and permission from the family although it doesn't seem to me he held back a lot of messy details (she wrote an autobiography that appears to still exist, never published, that he clearly read, but is even now, maybe too close to the bone for friends and family still living). All the information you could want is presented in a straightforward manner, but if Mary Wesley's life weren't so extremely lively it would show more, I think, that the biography has a flat tone, a lack of insight into or sensitivity or even enthusiasm for Mary, the personality. The list of themes in a footnote sums up exactly everything I found flat about the work itself. He lets Mary do all the work, so to speak, which is exactly what people always did, it is only her adventures and energy that keep the book absorbing.
There are also several places where Marnham repeats something he wrote in an earlier chapter word for word, although to be sure, he is approaching whatever it is from a slightly different angle. It happened enough that it felt like filler.
One last comment, Marnham doesn't go anywhere near the topic so dear to my mind, "Why so late?" But the clues are there. Besides the basic chaos she lived in, her second husband Eric, also a writer, had serious mood problems and for a variety of reasons never succeeded in his career; there is little doubt in my mind that Mary held herself back, consciously or unconsciously, for his sake. I don't think that succeeding where he didn't was acceptable to her. To her, mind you, I am not judging Eric. This issue is an example of a topic that a braver biographer would explore. In any event, I bring this up as an example of what I found to be 'missing': the answer to my question, "How did this happen?" By seventy the degree of pent-up ideas was like a raging torrent, once the dam was opened, there was no stopping it until she was done. Fortunately for us, she was robust and energetic enough to do the work so late in life. A guarded recommendation, since there is nothing better. Also, it is important to keep in mind I had an agenda and expectations, others might truly enjoy reading about her life, which is of itself, absorbing. ***1/2. ( )