Well, I do hope that my post on Monday whetted your appetite for Rose Macaulay and her wonderful books. However, as I mentioned, today I’m going to be focusing on a book not by, but about, Macaulay – and an intriguing one at that. “Dreaming of Rose” by Sarah LeFanu is subtitled “A Biographer’s Journal” and it was a fascinating read from start to finish.
LeFanu is, of course, biographer of Rose Macaulay, but she’s also the author of a number of other interesting works (her book “In the Chinks of the World Machine: Feminism and Science Fiction” sounds most intriguing); and as well as this, she was also editor at the Women’s Press, who published a number of volumes of women’s sci fi writing which I recall exploring. The Women’s Press books, with their distinctive design, were always favourite purchases alongside Virago Modern Classics, and I still have a number on my shelves. But I digress…
LeFanu’s biography of Rose Macaulay was published in 2003 by Virago, and the journal entries reproduced in “Dreaming…” run from 1998, when she embarked on the biography, up until December 2002, just before the biography came out. In it, LeFanu explores more than just the process of writing a book about Macaulay and the journal is facinating from start to finish.
Part at least of what attracts me to Rose is her secretiveness.
As I mentioned on Monday, it’s a puzzle as to why Macaulay’s work is not more appreciated, and LeFanu’s explorations of Rose’s life perhaps throw light on this. The latter was certainly an intriguing woman who lived such an interesting life; childhood in Italy, a long-term affair with a married ex-priest Gerald O’Donovan; various religious fluctuations; many travels and a wide range of writing. As I opined, it may well be that the variety of that writing and a refusal to be pigeonholed which has kept her a little under the radar.
The trouble with doing research is that half the time don’t know what it is you’re looking for, or at least what you might want to know, until after you’ve packed up your books and gone home.
“Dreaming of Rose”, however, certainly throws light on a number of different aspects of the writer’s life. The element I found most fascinating, I think, was LeFanu’s explorations of the biographer’s art and her experiences whilst researching her book on Rose. Research in itself can be very appealing, with the thrill of the chase and the unexpected random finds part of the joy of delving into archives. LeFanu captures this aspect quite brilliantly, but also meditates on more problematic issues.
When she begins her research, she imagines many of those who knew Rose are no longer alive; this turns out to be anything but the case, and LeFanu is able to make contact with many people who were part of Rose’s life. However, this creates its own problems, particularly when she meets relatives of those close to Rose; suddenly, she’s dealing with living people and writing about their relatives, needing to find a balance between wanting to know everything and respecting their privacy. We all keep secrets – LeFanu references Dorothy L. Sayers and her son, who was brought up by foster parents – and sensitivity is needed when dealing with anyone’s experience, a sensitivity LeFanu displays. I imagine this must be something that all biographers tackling the lives of recent people have to face, and LeFanu captures the dichotomies she had to deal with brilliantly.
She takes her meditations on the art of the biographer further than this, considering what it is that drives someone to undertake the task of writing about another’s life, and indeed what a mammoth task that is. Citing author Richard Holmes and his pursuit of Robert Louis Stevenson, Lefanu understands how it’s possible to become so absorbed in another person’s life that you find yourself almost becoming a part of their story, imagining you’re chasing their ghost. And as she chases after Rose, she visits the locations of events in Rose’s life, seeking for a glimpse of Rose and what she saw.
Part of the biographical urge comes from wanting to experience the world as someone else experienced it, seeing it through someone else’s eyes. Doesn’t it? Wasn’t that the desire that in 1964 drew Richard Holmes to the Cevennes in the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson and his donkey Modestine?
“Dreaming…” also captures vivdly the ups and downs of life as a woman writer; LeFanu often finds herself struggling to juggle her home responsibilities with the demands of her work, in a way that a male writer surely never would. When you add in the problems of being a freelance writer, waiting for essential payments to come in for work done, sending out proposals and then having to meet deadlines, it certainly seems that romantic concepts of what it’s like to be an author go out of the window! The book is sprinkled with fascinating references, from memories of the author’s own life, encounters with old friends, comments on the difficulties of times at the Women’s Press, social gatherings with Virago’s Lennie Goodings, and a mention of the much-missed Silver Moon bookshop.

Rose Macaulay pencil sketch (Jburlinson, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
LeFanu’s book was originally published in 2013, and has been revised for this reissue; the epilogue, concerning the publication of some letters of Rose Macaulay, is particularly fascinating, and throws another discussion topic into the ring, that of whether a person’s personal letters *should* be published and who has the right to do so. Macaulay had left instructions for all of her papers to be burned unread on her death, so publication of these letters may well have been very much against her wishes; another difficult issue for the biographer to tackle.
I think this is what a biography is meant to be: a folding-in of all the ingredients, the living, the loving, the writing, to make a rich pudding.
“Dreaming of Rose” was a fascinating read from start to finish; as well as divulging so much about her process of researching and constructing her biography, LeFanu’s explorations of a woman’s writing life were extremely revealing. I was left in awe at her achievements with the book, particularly as she had to balance all her different commitments, as well as dealing with the inevitable self-doubt which hits any creative person from time to time. The Handheld Press edition is beautifully presented, as you would expect, with illustrations within the text, a helpful family tree plus lists of Macaulay’s books and works cited. You might think that writing a biography would be relatively straightforward; but as LeFanu reveals it really isn’t, and this wonderful and engrossing work gives a privileged view of the writer at work. If you want to know more about the writing of Rose’s biography or explore the struggles facing women writers this is definitely the book for you – highly recommended!
(Review copy kindly provided by the publisher, for which many thaks! There was a lovely online launch for the book recently, which I was fortunate enough to attend, and a recording of the session is now available online – you can find it here!)
Jul 14, 2021 @ 11:18:20
This is an outstanding entry. Discussing the work a biographer must do, the obstacles, the realities of a freelance life and the book too lifted this blog essay into something special, illuminating. Your writing gets better all the time. I wish I had your stamina endlessly to read and then post. I read too many books at once, haven’t got the focus. Am not Catholic enough in my tastes. Ellen
Jul 14, 2021 @ 16:04:57
Thank you – most kind! Certainly, this book is very wide-ranging in the topics it explores, and it really does shine a light onto the struggles of a woman and a biographer. I thought it was excellent.
Jul 14, 2021 @ 11:23:14
I have got to read this! I read Le Fanu’s biography of Rose not long after it was published. The reasons for that are lost to me now as I’d not read any of Macaulay’s work and remarkably I still haven’t. I think I came across her elsewhere and was fascinated by what little I learnt. And then life got in the way! Your previous post piqued my interest; now I’m well and truly reeled in!
Jul 14, 2021 @ 16:03:29
Oh excellent – if you’ve read LeFanu’s book then you’re the ideal candidate for this one. It’s a remarkably good read and I hope you like it – and that you also go on to read some of Macaulay’s books!!
Jul 14, 2021 @ 12:07:45
I do like a good biography, especially when it shows the subject in all of that person’s complexity. And you raise such an interesting question about those letters. Just how private should a person’s life be? Are those letters fair game? I think it’s hard to say, and it depends on the circumstances. If the family donates the letters, then I can see using them. Other cases, too, can show that the person would not object to the letters being published. But in other cases, and for very private letters, I’m not so sure. You’ve given me a lot to think about, so thank you.
Jul 14, 2021 @ 16:02:41
Me too Margot – I’ve always loved reading a good biography, but I’ve come to realise that they can vary a lot, depending on the sources available and also the viewpoint of the biographer. It’s one of many knotty issues around writing about someone’s life, and I think I’m broadly in line with you – if the family are happy to share, that’s good. But then you have e.g. Sylvia Plath and the rumours of Ted Hughes destroying some of her papers because he wasn’t shown in a good light. It becomes a very complicated subject indeed….
Jul 14, 2021 @ 12:16:42
Lovely review, thanks Karen. I also read this recently – would have loved more on A Good Read! I’ve found it impossible even to discover a list of who has presented it at different times.
Really interesting thoughts on why Macaulay isn’t as well known as she could be, too.
Jul 14, 2021 @ 16:00:07
Thanks Simon! Yes, it does seem odd that Macaulay’s work is not more high profile, as she’s such a good author. Hopefully all these new books and reissues will keep raising her profile!
Jul 14, 2021 @ 17:56:34
Heh, I’m glad I wasn’t the only one looking up past presenters on A Good Read. I was really shocked by that, and very cross on Sarah LeFanu’s behalf.
Jul 14, 2021 @ 20:37:29
Aha! https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04ybcx0
Jul 14, 2021 @ 13:00:35
Oh this does sound fascinating, I love works about the biographer’s work and the details of doing it as a woman and the publishers we love (and Silver Moon!) make it indispensable!
Jul 14, 2021 @ 15:59:07
It’s a great read, Liz, and really does make you think about the complexities of being a women author and also being a biographer – a great read!
Jul 14, 2021 @ 13:46:27
This sounds absolutely fascinating! The moral dilemmas for a biographer are something I’ve not thought about enough, it would be really interesting to read about how Le Fanu navigated these.
I still enjoy seeing the striped Women’s Press editions on my shelves 🙂 And I have a daydream that a big pot of money will fall from the sky one day and I’ll re-open the Silver Moon bookshop…
Jul 14, 2021 @ 15:56:48
It really is! I’m an avid reader of biographies but hadn’t really thought about the morals very deeply – this book really is a bit of an eye-opener.
And yes – lovely Women’s Press – I do miss them and Silver Moon and the Virago Shop and all the lovely Charing Cross Road bookshops….
Jul 14, 2021 @ 15:53:42
This sounds so good Kaggsy, thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Jul 14, 2021 @ 15:55:34
Most welcome! I thought it was a wonderful read, which worked on so many levels!
Jul 14, 2021 @ 17:44:58
I wasn’t sure if this book was entirely for me when it first arrived to be honest. I am more interested in Rose Macaulay herself I thought than in her biographer, however you convinced me that this will be a fascinating and revealing book especially regarding those awkward decisions that must be made about things like letters. My copy of this is currently packed in one of many boxes but at some point after I move I will dig it out.
Jul 14, 2021 @ 20:41:00
I think you would like it, Ali, as it covers so much. LeFanu is an engaging character herself, with such an interesting career, and so I found her narrative interesting anyway. And what she had to tell about the writing of the biography is fascinating. Hope you get to this eventually when the move has gone through!
Jul 14, 2021 @ 17:54:55
What an absolutely lovely review! You bring out so much of the pleasure of this book. I loved reading it, it gives such insights into the process of writing a biography, and the dilemmas and doubts and practical problems. And I loved it when the finally opened the embargoed box!
Jul 14, 2021 @ 20:39:44
Thank you! It’s such an engrossing read, isn’t it? And yes – opening the box was so exciting!!
Jul 14, 2021 @ 18:54:44
An excellent review as ever, Karen – your enthusiasm for Macaulay and LeFanu’s book really comes through! It sounds like a fascinating insight into the art of the biography, particularly the delights and challenges the writer will likely encounter on the way (as LeFanu did in this instance). It must be a minefield at times with various tricky issues and pitfalls to navigate – all credit to LeFanu for exploring these points in her book. It’s lovely to read about it in the context of your week with Rose!
Jul 14, 2021 @ 20:36:39
Thanks Jacqui! I wasn’t sure how I’d find this at first, but it’s so interesting, LeFanu writes well, and engagingly, and watching her negotiate the difficulties of being a woman writer, dealing with her moments of doubt, juggling commitments and also struggling with the morals of writing a biography was fascinating. Plus it added another level to my understanding of Rose!
Jul 14, 2021 @ 20:50:18
A wonderful review of what sounds to be a fascinating book, even though I’ve not as yet read anything by Macauley. It has added interest for me because I knew Sarah LeFanu for a short time when she lived in Bristol, when we were both in the same babysitting circle (along, incidentally, with Turner Prize winner Richard Long). I have a handbook on writing fantasy by her which I really ought to review sometime. But I like the interweaving of biographies, of the author and of the biographer, with all the implicit problems you outline.
Jul 14, 2021 @ 20:57:06
Thank you – and how interesting! She’s a fascinating author and the book launch was really interesting. And yes, that’s exactly it – the interweaving of her story and her work with that of Macaulay made the book doubly fascinating.
Jul 15, 2021 @ 20:10:44
I have this on my August to read pile. Looking forward to it.
Jul 16, 2021 @ 13:34:00
Hurrah! Hope you enjoy it! 😀
Jul 16, 2021 @ 18:08:06
all really interesting as always, but at the moment a book on feminism and science fiction is right up my street – thank you!
Jul 16, 2021 @ 19:21:49
LOL! Yes, that sounds good to me, too!!
Jul 17, 2021 @ 11:25:06
I’ve enjoyed your focus on one writer – a great idea, especially for those like me who don’t really know her work. I also like the sound of a journal about writing a biography which must be a fascinating process.
Jul 17, 2021 @ 12:19:29
Thanks Grant! I’ve enjoyed it too – not a thing I often do, as I tend to let my grasshopper mind wander wherever it wants when I’m choosing books. But reading Macaulay has been a real joy!
Jul 19, 2021 @ 18:57:45
Well I can see that everyone of us is going to have to agree to at least one by/about RM or else we’re never going to get back to that poetry project or that little batch of Penguin shortstuffs. *melodramatic sigh*
Jul 19, 2021 @ 19:46:12
LOL! I do recommend tracking down at least one of Rose’s books – what a talented and varied author she was!
Sep 20, 2021 @ 07:00:19