The Limit

The Limit (1911) is a novel by Ada Leverson. Having established herself as a journalist and short story writer, Leverson published her debut novel in 1907 to moderate acclaim. Entertaining and effortlessly witty, Leverson’s prose paints a stunning portrait of the Edwardian era, a time when hope and relative peace proved prosperous for many. Often compared to her close friend Oscar Wilde, Leverson, a pioneering Jewish woman, remains a unique and refreshing voice in English literature. Marriage, friends, a home―Romer and Valentia seem to have everything they could ever want. Under the surface, however, jealousy and doubt threaten the love they have spent years nurturing. While Valentia spends more and more of her time with her cousin Harry de Freyne, a handsome artist, Romer does his best to ground himself in trust and devotion. Meanwhile, Valentia’s sister Daphne resists the advances of the wealthy aristocrat Van Buren. Miss Luscombe, one of the couple’s many eccentric friends, is an impoverished young actress who falls for a mysterious tattooed man. As each of these characters navigates the needs and desires of themselves and those around them, Leverson never loses sight of their humanity, for all its beauty and flaws. The Limit is a humorous tale of romance and desire from Ada Leverson, an underappreciated novelist of the Edwardian era. This edition of Ada Leverson’s The Limit is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Ada Leverson (1862-1933) was a British novelist. Born into a middle-class Jewish family, Leverson was raised alongside eight siblings by Samuel Henry Beddington, a wool merchant, and his wife Zillah. At 19, she married Ernest Leverson, with whom she would raise a daughter, Violet. In the 1890s, she embarked on a career as a professional writer, submitting stories and articles to Punch, The Yellow Book, and The Saturday Review. Through her work as a theater critic, she gained a reputation for her abundant wit and satirical tone, parodying friends and enemies alike in some of England’s most popular magazines and newspapers. She was a devoted friend of Oscar Wilde, who supported her literary pursuits and shared her humorous outlook on life. When Wilde was put on trial for his homosexuality, Leverson offered him a place to stay and continued corresponding with the Irish author until the end of his life. She wrote several novels throughout her life, including The Twelfth Hour (1907) and Little Ottleys (1908-1916), a trilogy inspired by her troubled marriage to Ernest, who abandoned her in 1905 to move to Canada. Although far from a bestselling author in her time, Leverson has come to be seen as a pioneering artist whose works display a keen understanding of society’s triumphs and shortcomings.