Best Selling Books by Rebecca West

"An authentic masterpiece." — The North American Review. Recounting the homecoming of a shell-shocked officer, this novel offers a compelling look at the far-reaching effects of the First World War and the shifting nature of English class structure.

A collection of Rebecca West’s early journalistic writings reveals her clarity of mind, severity of wit, and relevancy in today’s modern world In this collection of early writings, beginning when Rebecca West was just eighteen years old, Jane Marcus sheds light on one of the foremost feminist and political thinkers of our time. West’s essays, reviews, and public correspondence tackle many subjects, including politics, suffrage, education, morality and ethics, the arts, and social figures of the day. Her writings offer a glimpse of the real Rebecca—not some stuffy suffragette, but a vibrant, funny, provocative, and brilliant woman whose determined pen strokes outwit her contemporaries and remain inspiring today. A feminist to the core, West parried with her readers, other writers, and a culture slow to accept change. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Rebecca West featuring rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the Department of Special Collections and University Archives, McFarlin Library, at the University of Tulsa.

A thoughtful romantic novel of love found, lost, rekindled, and redefined Isabelle, a wealthy American widow, arrives in France to restart her life and discovers she has her choice of eligible suitors. Torn between a placid liaison with a southerner and a tortuous affair with a Frenchman, Isabelle’s plans suddenly take an unexpected turn that will ultimately lead her to a love that will force her to reconsider the implications of her affluent existence. With her signature wit and wisdom, West presents a captivating ode to marriage’s depth and the romance of the bond between husband and wife.

A collection of Rebecca West’s critical thought, essays, and reviews that sparkles with her wit and intelligence Throughout her life, West worked as a journalist and critic, and in this collection readers will discover her vibrant voice, which is at times frank and frequently humorous. Whether considering her escapades in Prohibition-era New York or her own path to writing fiction, West’s essays offer captivating stories and apt reflections on human foibles—as well as her own personality. That same honesty is evident in her reviews, in which West tackles subjects such as Winston Churchill’s memoir and Brave New World, but never shies away from either a critical or playful tone. A wonderful introduction to the author’s nonfiction writing, and a veritable goldmine for fans, The Essential Rebecca West brings the writer, her voice, and her times to life.

Creative writers have responded to the accumulated experience of their societies - to tradition, the rule of law, to kings and usurpers, to power.

“Rebecca West’s magnum opus . . . one of the great books of our time.” —The New Yorker Written on the brink of World War II, Rebecca West’s classic examination of the history, people, and politics of Yugoslavia illuminates a region that is still a focus of international concern. A magnificent blend of travel journal, cultural commentary, and historical insight, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon probes the troubled history of the Balkans and the uneasy relationships among its ethnic groups. The landscape and the people of Yugoslavia are brilliantly observed as West untangles the tensions that rule the country’s history as well as its daily life. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

In the second installment of Rebecca West’s Saga of the Century trilogy, Rose Aubrey, her sisters, and her cousin stand on the brink of adulthood and a new era for women They have put down their schoolbooks and put up their hair, but a talented musician and her kin ponder what being a young woman on one’s own will entail. Abandoned by their feckless father, Rose and her family must move beyond their comfortable drawing room to discover a world of kind patrons, music teachers, and concert hall acclaim, but also domestic strife, anti-Semitism, and social pressure to marry. Set before World War I, Rebecca West’s intimate, eloquent family portrait brings to life a time when women recognized their own voices and the joys of living off one’s own talents.

A beautiful actress of the 1920s faces painful decisions about her lovers and her future in Rebecca West’s posthumously published semi-autobiographical novel Star of the stage, Sunflower has everything but the attention she craves from her long-time—and married—lover, Lord Essington, a brilliant and intense man occupied with more intellectual thoughts. Eager for a more rewarding experience, Sunflower must decide whether another “great man,” the Australian Francis Pitt, will offer a more traditional relationship and happiness. Written during West’s own psychoanalysis and never finished, Sunflower ponders topics of the power struggle between the sexes, and a woman’s freedom to determine her romantic destiny. Drawn heavily from West’s own relationships with H.G. Wells and Lord Beaverbrook, this roman à clef gives a glimpse of the author’s own struggle to find a satisfying relationship.

A “compelling . . . oddly intriguing” psychological thriller set in fin-de-siècle Paris from the New York Times–bestselling author of Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (The New York Times). During early revolutionary stirrings in Russia, after an unexpected turn of events, Laura Rowan, the coddled granddaughter of an exiled British nobleman, becomes her grandfather’s sole companion on a fateful train ride. In France, a young revolutionary approaches Laura and her grandfather with information that will turn her world upside down, and their travels become a thrilling journey into the heart of the struggle against Tsarist Russia. In this suspenseful novel, West brings to life a battle between entitled imperials and the passionate, savvy communist revolutionaries who dare to face them.

West’s acclaimed examination of traitors, this gripping profile takes readers inside World War II spy rings and gets to the heart of what it means to betray one’s country Throughout her career, Rebecca West dug into psyches, real and fictional, to try to understand the meaning of betrayal. In the aftermath of World War II, West was incensed when several wartime turncoats were tried with seeming indifference—and worse, sympathy—from the British public. In exploring these traitors’ origins, crimes, and motivations, West exposes how class division, greed, and discrimination can taint loyalties and redraw the relationships between individuals and their fatherland. A fascinating book, The Meaning of Treason combines the intrigue of a spy novel with West’s classic, careful dissection of man’s moral struggles.

A travelogue and historical exploration of Mexico from one of the twentieth century’s greatest travel writers Dame Rebecca West travels through Mexico and explores its people, history, religion, and culture in her unfinished work Survivors in Mexico, carefully stitched together by Bernard Schweizer in this posthumously published edition. West tackles the country’s broad historical legacy—the Spanish conquest and Mexican revolution, the muralist movement, race relations, and contemporary life—and delves into the personal, intimate lives of key figures such as Hernán Cortés, Montezuma, Dr. Atl, Diego Rivera, and Leon Trotsky. Conceived as a companion to West’s masterful classic Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, this book showcases the complexity of West’s character, addresses the paradoxes inherent in her work, and allows for a mature understanding of her ideology. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Rebecca West featuring rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the Department of Special Collections and University Archives, McFarlin Library, at the University of Tulsa.

Published posthumously, this wise and entertaining family history and memoir offers keen insight into the origins of Rebecca West and her work Working on Family Memories for over twenty years, West set out to narrate the story of her mother’s, father’s and husband’s unique and talented families. As in her novels, the richly drawn characters of her heritage and childhood traverse a diverse landscape, from Scotland to Australia to Africa, encountering love, loss, and a panoply of challenges. Although fans will recognize many settings, characters, and themes from her novels, West’s exploration of her family stands on its own as an engaging narrative. Told with her compelling voice, West’s chronicles reflect not only the importance of family to identity, but to the way one relates to the larger world.

A brilliant romantic novel that traces the generational pulls of love and fidelity At seventeen, Ellen Melville’s life is filled with passion for the suffrage movement, her mother, and Edinburgh, if not romance. Then Richard Yaverland, a successful older man, enters her life. Haunted by his own illegitimacy, Richard wants to avert the pain that left his mother a bitter woman even as he kindles a passionate romance. As Ellen and Richard tentatively try on the roles of lovers, the spark of a new relationship will inspire the people around them to consider their own connections. As West’s clever and enchanting heroine falls in love, she inspires the reader to reflect on the different ways that love can change the course of our lives, for better or worse.

The lives of the talented Aubrey children have long been clouded by their father''s genius for instability, but his new job in the London suburbs promises, for a time at least, reprieve from scandal and the threat of ruin. Mrs. Aubrey, a former concert pianist, struggles to keep the family afloat, but then she is something of a high-strung eccentric herself, as is all too clear to her daughter Rose, through whose loving but sometimes cruel eyes events are seen. Still, living on the edge holds the promise of the unexpected, and the Aubreys, who encounter furious poltergeists, turn up hidden masterpieces, and come to the aid of a murderess, will find that they have adventure to spare. In The Fountain Overflows, a 1957 best seller, Rebecca West transmuted her own volatile childhood into enduring art. This is an unvarnished but affectionate picture of an extraordinary family, in which a remarkable stylist and powerful intelligence surveys the elusive boundaries of childhood and adulthood, freedom and dependency, the ordinary and the occult.

The Return of the Soldier is a novel by English novelist Rebecca West regarding Captain Chris Baldry, a soldier whose reintegration to the British mainstream society is not easy, after he returns home during The First World War.

From the time that George Bernard Shaw remarked that “Rebecca West could handle a pen as brilliantly as ever I could and much more savagely,” West’s writings and her politics have elicited strong reactions. This collection of her letters—the first ever published—has been culled from the estimated ten thousand she wrote during her long life. The more than two hundred selected letters follow this spirited author, critic, and journalist from her first feminist campaign for women’s suffrage when she was a teenager through her reassessments of the twentieth century written in 1982, in her ninetieth year. The letters, which are presented in full, include correspondence with West’s famous lover H. G. Wells and with Shaw, Virginia Woolf, Emma Goldman, Noel Coward, and many others; offer pronouncements on such contemporary authors as Norman Mailer, Nadine Gordimer, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; and provide new insights into her battles against misogyny, fascism, and communism. West deliberately fashions her own biography through this intensely personal correspondence, challenging rival accounts of her groundbreaking professional career, her frustrating love life, and her tormented family relations. Engrossing to read, the collection sheds new light on this important figure and her social and literary milieu.

An enlightening collection of short stories and other unpublished works that highlight Rebecca West’s deft hand at fiction Published posthumously, these short stories and excerpts from unfinished works highlight what made West a highly regarded novelist: sensuous descriptions, self-sufficient yet vulnerable heroines wrestling with the meanings of identity and love, and even brushes with magic and mysticism. West’s powerful narrative style draws readers into her worlds, whether via a comic sketch, a romance, or a thriller. Many of these characters will remind West’s fans of their later published incarnations. Sure to be a pleasure for new readers and seasoned fans alike, this insightful collection informs as much as it entertains.

"A Writer''s Recollections," a book review by Rebecca West, from the December 1918 issue of "The Bookman" magazine, discusses a book of that title, authored by Mrs. Humphry Ward, a woman novelist of the 19th century Victorian era, who offers her autobiographical memoir of a literary life in contact with prominent literary personages of the Victorian era.

One of the pioneer studies of the American expatriate novelist.

West comments on some gay or lesbian contemporaries.--P. Thorslev.

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Two young women come of age in a novel "unbelievably rich in character, incident, and observation." -- The Boston Globe Their childhood and adolescence were overshadowed by the Great War. Now, in its lonely aftermath, Rose and Mary Aubrey find themselves deprived of the guiding strength of their cousin Rosamund when she marries a man of dubious morals and intolerable vulgarity. Retreating to an inn on the Thames, they find a haven of security with old friends. Into this fragile Eden a new, disruptive force is introduced; Rose discovers the power of love, and, confronting her own sexuality, learns to delight in it. With extraordinary fierceness and candor, Rebecca West has written a portrait of sexual awakening, one that allows her characters an uncanny glimpse of our own age. "Comes as close as we are ever likely to get to a self-portrait of the extraordinary woman who created her." -- Sunday Observer (London) "The author’s searching, stinging, imaginative intelligence encompasses art and love and justice and simple humanness." -- Kirkus Reviews

A thumbnail of the world in 1900.

In these four brilliant short novels set in America, England and Paris, Rebecca West explores the lives and relationships of rich women and men who are ruled by ''the harsh voice we hear when money talks, or hate''. There is Josie, a flower of American girlhood whose boundless ambition for wealth fatally loosens the bonds of her marriage to Corrie. There is Etienne de Sevenac, a dilettante French aristocrat whose courtly stratagems are no match for Nancy Sarle - a plain but powerful American businesswoman. There is Alice Pemberton, a sensible Englishwoman - the very salt of the earth - but a petty tyrant in her gracious Georgian home. And lastly there is Sam Hartley, an American businessman who has fought his way to riches with his wife at his side, but whose life is now haunted by an abiding vision of beautiful young women.