Ivy Compton-Burnett: Difference between revisions

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Among her themes are money, power, ageing and [[inheritance]].  [[Incest]] is revealed to have taken place, and she was one of the first novelists to deal with [[homosexuality]].
Among her themes are money, power, ageing and [[inheritance]].  [[Incest]] is revealed to have taken place, and she was one of the first novelists to deal with [[homosexuality]].


There is also a pronounced upstairs-downstairs angle, with powerful [[butlers]] and cooks lording it over maids and servant boys; and impoverished [[governesses]].  This reflects the world that Ivy grew up in in [[Hove]], to the west of [[Brighton]], on the southern English coast.
There is also a pronounced upstairs-downstairs angle, with powerful [[butlers]] and cooks lording it over maids and servant boys; and impoverished [[governesses]].  This reflects the world of Ivy's youth in [[Hove]], to the west of [[Brighton]], on the southern English coast.


==Complete Bibliography ==
==Complete Bibliography ==

Revision as of 08:46, 13 October 2007

Ivy Compton-Burnett (pronounced 'Cumpton-Burnit', 5 June 188427 August 1969) was an English novelist. Her work is characterised by extensive use of dialogue, and concentrates on family (and sometimes school) life in roughly the Edwardian era. Many of her novels turn on unexpected crimes or misdemeanours that are uncovered, such as illegitimacy and even murder, though her books have no detectives.

Among her themes are money, power, ageing and inheritance. Incest is revealed to have taken place, and she was one of the first novelists to deal with homosexuality.

There is also a pronounced upstairs-downstairs angle, with powerful butlers and cooks lording it over maids and servant boys; and impoverished governesses. This reflects the world of Ivy's youth in Hove, to the west of Brighton, on the southern English coast.

Complete Bibliography