Sybille Bedford was a German-born writer whose works often drew from her own life experiences. Her prose is marked by its precision and a keen eye for human nature, earning her acclaim as one of the finest women writers of the 20th century. Through her novels and travelogues, she explored themes of brutality, antisemitism, and the complexities of legal systems. Bedford left an indelible mark on modern English prose.
Selected for its cultural significance, this work contributes to the foundational knowledge of civilization. Scholars recognize its importance in understanding historical contexts and societal developments. The text offers insights that are vital for comprehending the evolution of cultural and intellectual thought.
Set in 1920s Europe during the tumultuous interwar period, this autobiographical novel offers a rich, immersive depiction of the era's complexities. Through personal experiences, the narrative captures the cultural and social dynamics of the time, reflecting on themes of identity and resilience. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, it stands out for its evocative storytelling and historical insight, providing readers with a unique perspective on a pivotal moment in history.
Exploring the complexities of family and cultural identity, the narrative follows Anna Howland, an American heiress who marries an Italian prince and settles in Rome. The story delves into the lives of two generations, highlighting the strong matrilineal bond between Anna and her daughter Constanza. While Constanza inherits her mother's beauty and wealth, she grapples with her father's Catholicism, ultimately choosing to reject it. The novel intricately weaves themes of heritage, individuality, and the clash of traditions across nationalities.
The first full-scale literary trial in Britain's history - re-counted by the ever-charming and inimitable Sybille Bedford.
The narrative explores the contrasting lives of two families: the affluent Jewish Merzes of Berlin, who have lost touch with their illustrious heritage, and the Catholic aristocratic Feldens from southern Germany. The marriage of Julius von Felden and Melanie Merz intertwines their fates, creating a complex relationship marked by humor and tragedy. Through the eyes of an observant child, the story unfolds in pre-World War I Germany, offering a poignant reflection on a fading aristocratic lifestyle and the impending changes of the era.
Sybille Bedford once wrote that travel writing is inseparable from the writer's tastes, idiosyncrasies, and general temperament - it is what happens to him when he is confronted with a column, a bird, a sage, a cheat, a riot; wine, fruit, dirt; the delay in the dirt, the failing airplane. 'Pleasures and Landscapes' is what happened to Mrs Bedford when, at the peak of her literary powers, she traveled through France, Italy, and the rest of Europe for Vogue, Esquire, and other magazines - eight classic essays that secure her a place at the table with A.J. Liebling and M.F.K. Fisher.
Set in a two month period during the late 1920s, A Compass Error suggests that at some key juncture the book's main character, Flavia, made a mistake that somehow blew her life off course, perhaps into a new sexual orientation.
Showing how history imprints itself on private lives, this memoir presents the author's sensuous, harrowing, and altogether remarkable life. It moves from Berlin during the Great War to the artists' set on the Cote d'Azur, through lovers, mentors, seducers and friends, and from genteel yet shabby poverty to relative comfort in London's Chelsea.
The Kaiser's Germany is the setting of Sybille Bedford's first and best-known novel, in which two families -- one from solid, upholstered Jewish Berlin, the other from the somnolent, agrarian Catholic South -- become comically, tragically, irrevocably intertwined. "Each family," writes the author, "stood confident of being able to go on with what was theirs, while in fact they were playthings, often victims, of the now united Germany and what was brewing therein." Did the monstrous thing that followed have its foundation in families such as these? "Writing about them made me think so. Hence the title."
This intensely remembered, partly autobiographical novel, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1989, describes the childhood of Billi, a girl growing up in Europe between the wars. When her father dies, she swaps life in a run-down German château for an exhilarating existence with her beautiful, talented and unreliable mother on the French Riviera. Sent away to England for schooling, the gypsy-like Billi ricochets between short-lived tutors and a life of reading, friends and public lectures. Returning to the Mediterranean, her unorthodox education - intellectual, emotional and sexual - continues among the vibrant community of artists, exiles and intellectuals who have colonised the coast, coaxing her towards a life of literature.