Amy Levy: Critical Essays (Series in Victorian Studies) - Softcover

Beckman, Linda Hunt

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0821413309 ISBN 13: 9780821413302

Publisher: Ohio University Press, 2000

Synopsis

After a century of critical neglect, poet and writer Amy Levy is gaining recognition as a literary figure of stature.

This definitive biography accompanied by her letters, along with the recent publication of her selected writings, provides a critical appreciation of Levy’s importance in her own time and in ours.

As an educated Jewish woman with homoerotic desires, Levy felt the strain of combating the structures of British society in the 1880s, the decade in which she built her career and moved in London’s literary and bohemian circles. Unwilling to cut herself off from her Jewish background, she had the additional burden of attempting to bridge the gap between communities.

In Amy Levy: Her Life and Letters Linda Hunt Beckman examines Levy’s writings and other cultural documents for insight into her emotional and intellectual life. This groundbreaking study introduces us to a woman well deserving of a place in literary and cultural history.

About this title

About the Author:

Linda Hunt Beckman is Professor of English at Ohio University and the author of A Woman’s Portion: Ideology, Culture, and the Female Novel Tradition as well as numerous articles and essays.

From Library Journal:

The poetry and fiction of Amy Levy (1861-89) have faded into obscurity. But in this important biography, which complements The Complete Novels and Selected Writings of Amy Levy, edited by Melvyn New and published in 1993, Beckman (English, Ohio Univ.) seeks to rectify this oversight. Born to a large, middle-class Jewish family in Victorian England, Levy spent most of her 27 years attempting to bridge the gap between the religious roots she was loath to forsake and the literary circles she sought to join. Her homosexuality guaranteed further alienation. In her fiction, most notably the novel Reuben Sachs (1888), Levy described the cultural glass ceiling Jews in England continuously faced. Sadly, most of the accolades for Levy's work came in the form of obituaries (by such luminaries as Oscar Wilde and W.B. Yeats) after her 1889 suicide. Beckman includes Levy's letters in the appendix, which serves as an excellent complement to the lucid narrative and a way to hear her long-silent voice. Highly recommended for larger literature collections.DDiane Gardner Premo, Rochester P.L., NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ohio University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0821413309
• ISBN 13: 9780821413302
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 344