SCOTT, Eleanor.

£750 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

The Forgotten Image. First edition. While Scott is now best-known for her acclaimed collection of ghost stories, Randall's Round (1929), this work continues in the vein of her successful first novel, War Among Ladies (1928), and vividly details life for women on an East End social settlement. Helen Madeline Leys (1892-1965) published under the pennames Peter Redcliffe Shore and Eleanor Scott (the name by which she is now known). Her "shrewd and uncanny" grasp of the emotional lives of women led to her description in contemporary reviews "as an understanding writer of the feminine psychology" (Denton Lass O, 9 October 1930).The novel "shows us the petty motives, intrigues, and rivalries (never quite unredeemed by virtue) of a group of women in an East End social settlement. From the stately and enigmatic Principal to the egotistical, self-deceiving heroine, and the tragic Beryl Chambers, with her limpet-like possessiveness, the characters are displayed with masterly precision and truth" (Gilbert Thomas, The Spectator, 17 May 1930). Described by respected supernatural fiction editor Richard Dalby as "one of the best, but ultimately least known, writers" of this era, Scott's works are now notably uncommon (p. 169). Alongside her fictional works, Scott published popular histories of notable women, drawing on her experiences as a schoolteacher to create "her greatest successes with the public" (Aigner, p. 341).

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