Beatrice Inez Lisette (Paget) Holden (21 November 1903 – 30 May 1974) was a British writer and Bohemian social figure and journalist, also known for her association with George Orwell. Born at

Wellesbourne Wellesbourne is a large village in the civil parish of Wellesbourne and Walton, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of the UK. In the 2021 census the parish, which also includes the hamlet of Walton, had a population o ...

, Warwickshire to Wilfred Millington Holden (of the family listed in

Burke's Landed Gentry ''Burke's Landed Gentry'' (originally titled ''Burke's Commoners'') is a reference work listing families in Great Britain and Ireland who have owned rural estates of some size. The work has been in existence from the first half of the 19th cen ...

1952 edition as 'Holden of Bromson', a branch of the family of 'Holden of Hawton and Sibdon'; he served as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the Bihar Light Horse and 15th Hussars) and Beatrice Mary Byng Paget (the daughter of Herbert Byng Paget, of Darley House,

Darley Dale Darley Dale, also known simply as Darley, is a town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, with a population of 5,413. It lies north of Matlock, on the River Derwent and the A6 road. The town forms part ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, of the family listed in Burke's Landed Gentry as 'Paget of

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...

'), with an elder brother, Wilfred Herbert, born in 1902, she was a cousin of the twins Celia Mary and Mamaine, who became

Arthur Koestler Arthur Koestler, (, ; ; hu, Kösztler Artúr; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was a Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria. In 1931, Koestler join ...

's second wife. Her first memory was her father shooting at – and missing – her mother; their relationship was a fraught one, as was Holden's own relationship with her mother, who was considered to be the second best horsewoman in England. She kept fifteen chargers, but although her extravagant nature allowed her to visit the Ritz when in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, her daughter did not benefit from it. According to Bluemel (in 'George Orwell and the Radical Eccentrics', which devotes considerable attention to Holden), Holden's status as 'a dropout from the

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

class who worked as both factory hand and intellectual' is a contributing factor in the value of her work both generally speaking and for feminist scholars. An allowance from her maternal uncle Jack Paget was necessarily supplemented by work for the Daily Express (with

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...

), as well as short stories she wrote for the

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

, Manchester Guardian and various magazines. The publication of her first novel, ''Sweet Charlatan'', was substantially aided by the extent to which her personal charm impacted upon Thomas Balston, a director of Duckworth's. She was one of a handful of women writers of the period to be published in Horizon,

Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine '' Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote '' Enemies of Promise'' (1938), which comb ...

's leading literary magazine. She was at the time working in an aircraft factory. Holden was sent to report on the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded m ...

; her journalism and writing film scripts for J. Arthur Rank would come to take precedence over her literary endeavours. In the 1950s, in a poor financial state, friends including Sally Chilver, ( Robert Graves's niece), who worked at the

Institute of Commonwealth Studies The Institute of Commonwealth Studies, founded in 1949, is the sole postgraduate academic institution in the United Kingdom devoted to the study of the Commonwealth. It is also home to the longest-running interdisciplinary and practice-oriented ...

, arranged for her to be paid for research into the archives of the

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

Mission to

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

. Considered 'very pretty...the fashionable type of beauty' with '"consumptive charm"' (Anthony Powell, 'To Keep the Ball Rolling'), she was the model for two

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarge ...

drawings, but after suffering a glandular disorder and botched operation in 1933 her looks were somewhat adversely affected by weight gain. She at one point lived in a

mews A mews is a row or courtyard of stables and carriage houses with living quarters above them, built behind large city houses before motor vehicles replaced horses in the early twentieth century. Mews are usually located in desirable residential ...

flat over a garage in the garden of

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

(she liked the fact that it overlooked trees, as this gave the illusion of living in the country). Holden was present when Orwell and Wells notoriously quarrelled in August 1941, in a meeting she had arranged at Orwell's flat in

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...

, unaware that Orwell had recently criticised Wells in an article in Horizon; as a result, she was evicted by Wells. She was a friend of the poet and novelist

Stevie Smith Florence Margaret Smith, known as Stevie Smith (20 September 1902 – 7 March 1971), was an English poet and novelist. She won the Cholmondeley Award and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. A play, '' Stevie'' by Hugh Whitemore, ba ...

; Holden was the model for Lopez in Smith's 1949 novel 'The Holiday'. Smith considered Holden to be 'vigorous' and 'buccaneering', with 'admirable courage and admirable high heart'; these characteristics she included in Lopez. Unfortunately insecurity on Holden's part based on Smith's greater successes led to the deterioration of the friendship – in 1959, Smith commented that Holden would 'hardly address a word' to her. Nonetheless, Holden did visit Smith during her final illness, and wrote an obituary on Smith's death in 1971. Holden never married, but had a tumultuous romantic relationship with the author and painter Humphrey Slater during the 1940s. She was a close friend, and briefly lover, of George Orwell; as such she is mentioned in many biographical works on the author.

Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work ''A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powell' ...

's memoir 'To Keep the Ball Rolling' recounts his first meeting with Orwell in 1941, in which Holden played a part. He refers to her as 'a torrential talker, an accomplished mimic... excellent company'. Powell based the character of Roberta Payne, an aspiring writer who captivates more than one male character, in his novel ''

What's Become of Waring ''What's Become of Waring'' is the fifth novel by the English writer Anthony Powell. It is his final novel of the 1930s, and the only one not published by Powell's first employer and publisher, Duckworth. Published in 1939, Powell's book was over ...

'', on Holden, she being "pretty, witty, and at home in a variety of London circles, some quite exalted... without any visible means of support except her writing". Following her death, 'Inez Holden: A Memoir', featuring contributions from her cousin Celia and her friend, the novelist

, appeared in the

London Magazine ''The London Magazine'' is the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and miscellaneous topics. 1732–1785 ''The London Magazine, or, Gentleman's Monthly I ...

October/ November 1974 issue. Lord Shackleton, who had been the permanent tenant of the lower floor of Holden's flat in

Lower Belgrave Street Lower Belgrave Street is a street in London's Belgravia district. It runs north-west to south-east and begins as a continuation of Upper Belgrave Street where it meets Eaton Square. It crosses one through-street, Ebury Street, and ends in a t ...

and a close friend, also wrote a short eulogy which appeared in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

. According to Powell, after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Holden had lived near Baker Street before moving to Lower Belgrave Street, in her latter years been "a compulsive newspaper reader and TV viewer, she would become obsessed by subjects the papers were running – say, sex-change or computer dating – and talk of these without cease throughout a whole luncheon or dinner", and would sometimes be seen dressed in "stray adjuncts of military uniform". In 2019, Handheld Press reissued Holden's ''Nightshift'' and ''It Was Different at the Time'' in a single volume titled ''Blitz Writing''; ''There's No Story There'' is scheduled for publication in 2021.

Works

*Sweet Charlatan (1929) *Born Old, Die Young (1932) *Death in High Society and Other Stories (1933) in

Basic English Basic English (British American Scientific International and Commercial English) is an English-based controlled language created by the linguist and philosopher Charles Kay Ogden as an international auxiliary language, and as an aid for teach ...

*Friend of the Family (1933) *Nightshift (1941) *It Was Different at the Time (1943) *There's No Story There (1944) *To the Boating, and other stories (1945) *The Owner (1952) *The Adults (1956)

Notes

*http://www.findmypast.co.uk/home.jsp – Birth, Marriage and Death records and Census indexes *Barber, Michael, Anthony Powell: A Life (Duckworth Overlook, 2004) *Bluemel, Kristin, George Orwell and the Radical Eccentrics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004) *Powell, Anthony, To Keep the Ball Rolling (Penguin Books, 1983) *Spaulding, Frances, Stevie Smith A Critical Biography (Faber & Faber, 1988)

External links

Holden's story collection 'Death in High Society and Other Stories'

Orwell Today's information on Inez Holden

A remembrance of Inez Holden by Anthony Powell, from London Magazine, Oct/Nov 1974, Vol. 14 No. 4, accompanied by an image of Holden as drawn by Augustus John {{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Inez 1903 births 1974 deaths 20th-century British novelists 20th-century British journalists