“No one was dull in Violet’s company"
November 16, 2024 1:23 AM Subscribe
Violet said that those first sessions in the library at Pakenham Hall marked the start of a conversation that lasted for the rest of their lives. They had spent roughly three weeks together when they decided to get married, which they did shortly afterwards with minimal fuss, throwing a boozy party for their many friends the night before. Parties were Violet’s natural element. from At Lady Violet's by Hilary Spurling [Hudson Review, via Arts & Letters Daily]
Not at all unusual for a visiting lady to be mounted by some friendly local gentleman on these occasions.
posted by Phanx at 5:56 AM on November 16 [2 favorites]
posted by Phanx at 5:56 AM on November 16 [2 favorites]
She was a nitpicker!
posted by Czjewel at 7:29 AM on November 16 [2 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 7:29 AM on November 16 [2 favorites]
That was a nice read, thanks! I love A Dance to the Music of Time and always wondered about Violet. Now I want to look up her books.
posted by maggiemaggie at 8:00 AM on November 16 [2 favorites]
posted by maggiemaggie at 8:00 AM on November 16 [2 favorites]
An elegant sketch of a long partnership between different temperaments. And a gracefully underwritten apology for underestimating Violet to start with.
Also I long to see the bitumen wallpaper! And I both long to acquire a house with mine galleries in the basement in a flood depression and am very glad I never shall.
You’d think, in their tall skinny London house, that the nursery could have been moved down at least a couple sets of stairs and saved a lot of work. I wonder if it was social or architectural constraint that ruled it out.
posted by clew at 11:07 AM on November 16 [2 favorites]
Also I long to see the bitumen wallpaper! And I both long to acquire a house with mine galleries in the basement in a flood depression and am very glad I never shall.
You’d think, in their tall skinny London house, that the nursery could have been moved down at least a couple sets of stairs and saved a lot of work. I wonder if it was social or architectural constraint that ruled it out.
posted by clew at 11:07 AM on November 16 [2 favorites]
extravagant wallpapers, the wildest of them all in the drawing-room: a nubbly black, brown and white design by Edward Bawden in stripes of what looked like coal, asphalt and bitumen
Obviously when I read that I had to find out which of Bawden's wallpaper designs it was. Having done some research I think it must be Flute, a beautiful design but maybe not the most restful to have on your wall.
posted by verstegan at 1:17 PM on November 16 [3 favorites]
Obviously when I read that I had to find out which of Bawden's wallpaper designs it was. Having done some research I think it must be Flute, a beautiful design but maybe not the most restful to have on your wall.
posted by verstegan at 1:17 PM on November 16 [3 favorites]
> the nursery could have been moved down at least a couple sets of stairs
Children were not to be heard
posted by anadem at 1:58 PM on November 16 [1 favorite]
Children were not to be heard
posted by anadem at 1:58 PM on November 16 [1 favorite]
There’s an Edward Gorey quality to this prose
posted by Countess Elena at 3:40 PM on November 16 [1 favorite]
posted by Countess Elena at 3:40 PM on November 16 [1 favorite]
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i didn't know you could do this...
posted by HearHere at 4:12 AM on November 16 [1 favorite]