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Rebecca West (1892-1983)
Who?
Irish novelist and critic, she was heavily involved in the suffragette movement and particularly known for her political writing.
Must reads
The Return of the Soldier (1918), The Judge (1922), The Strange Necessity (1928), Harriet Hume (1929), The Thinking Reed (1936), The Meaning of Treason (1949), A Train of Powder (1955), The Fountain Overflows (1957) and Cousin Rosamund (1988).
Darkest hour
Witnessing the Nuremberg Trials of Nazis.
Greatest triumph
Her deep analysis of the politics and history of Yugoslavia in Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941).
Essential quotes
'On the war-films I have seen men slip down as softly from the trench-parapet, and none but the grimmer philosophers could say that they had reached safety by their fall.' (Jenny in The Return of the Soldier)
'God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide.' (The Strange Necessity)
Gossip
She trained for the stage and had a 10-year love affair with HG Wells, with whom she had a son.
Did u know?
Her real name was Cecily Isabel Andrews, neé Fairfield. She adopted the name Rebecca West in 1912 after the passionate heroine of Ibsen's Rosmersholm.
What to say
Her writing, often with strong female lead characters, was witty and combative although some critics have labeled it as too intellectual.
Don't say
There's no point in voting.
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