''Olivia'' is the only novel by

Dorothy Bussy Dorothy Bussy ( Strachey; 24 July 1865 – 1 May 1960) was an English novelist and translator, close to the Bloomsbury Group. Family background and childhood Dorothy Bussy was a member of the Strachey family, one of ten children of Jane ...

(but not her only personal literary work); it was published in 1949 by

Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in Richmond (then in Surrey and now ...

, the publishing house founded by

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikiwikiweb:Λέων, � ...

and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

. Bussy wrote it in French and signed her work with the pseudonym "Olivia." "Olivia" had been the name of one of Dorothy's sisters who died in infancy. The book was translated into English and then retranslated back into French. Bussy dedicated it "to the very dear memory of Virginia W."

Summary

Set in the late 19th century at a finishing school in France, the plot dramatizes the passion of a young English boarding student for one of her French teachers, Mlle Julie, whose character owes much to

Marie Souvestre Marie Souvestre (28 April 1830 – 30 March 1905) was an educator who sought to develop independent minds in young women. She founded a school in France and when she left the school with one of her teachers she founded Allenswood Academy in Lon ...

Critical reception and scandal

Its success was immediate, in the United Kingdom as much as in foreign countries. It was hailed as a minor masterpiece. The French edition received little notice from French reviewers, despite its introduction by

Rosamond Lehmann Rosamond Nina Lehmann (3 February 1901 – 12 March 1990) was an English novelist and translator. Her first novel, ''Dusty Answer'' (1927), was a ''succès de scandale''; she subsequently became established in the literary world and intimate ...

. The novel caused a scandal when it first appeared, even though it belongs to an already well-established tradition, from ''

Claudine à l'école ''Claudine at School'' (french: Claudine à l'école) is a 1900 novel by the French writer Colette. The narrative recounts the final year of secondary school of 15-year-old Claudine, her brazen confrontations with her headmistress, Mlle Sergent, a ...

'' by

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...

(1900) to the film ''Girls in Uniform'' (''

Mädchen in Uniform ' ("Girls in Uniform") is a 1931 German romantic drama film based on the play ' (''Yesterday and Today'') by Christa Winsloe and directed by Leontine Sagan with artistic direction from Carl Froelich, who also funded the film. Winsloe also wrote ...

'') (1931), based on the play by

Christa Winsloe Christa Winsloe (23 December 1888 – 10 June 1944), formerly Baroness Christa von Hatvany-Deutsch, was a German-Hungarian novelist, playwright and sculptor, best known for her play ''Gestern und heute'' (known under several titles, see below), ...

. In their correspondence, Gide and Bussy did not fail to mention ''Mädchen in Uniform'', the cinematic version of which had already been shown in Paris during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

. In 1934 after this discussion Bussy sent the text, which she had been writing since the year before, to her close friend

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the Symbolism (arts), symbolist movement, to the advent o ...

to ask his opinion. He replied it was "not very engaging," which hurt Bussy deeply. Because of Gide's discouraging response, Bussy gave up on publishing it for fifteen years. After the book's success, Gide apologized to Bussy for not having appreciated her work at first. In 1999, her novel was ranked at number 35 on

Publishing Triangle The Publishing Triangle, founded in 1988 by Robin Hardy, is an American association of gay men and lesbians in the publishing industry. They sponsor an annual National Lesbian and Gay Book Month, and have sponsored the annual Triangle Awards prog ...

's '100 best lesbian and gay novels' list.{{cite web, title=The 100 Best Lesbian & Gay Novels, url=http://www.publishingtriangle.org/100best.asp, website=The Publishing Triangle, accessdate=November 1, 2017

French edition

The first French edition, published by Stock in 1949, benefited from a foreword by

, who was also close to Leonard Woolf and the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group—or Bloomsbury Set—was a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strac ...

Adaptations

* 1950: ''

Olivia Olivia may refer to: People * Olivia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Olivia (singer) (Olivia Longott, born 1981), American singer * Olívia (basketball) (Carlos Henrique Rodrigues do Nascimento, born 19 ...

'', a French film directed by

Jacqueline Audry Jacqueline Audry (25 September 1908 – 22 June 1977) was a French film director who began making films in post-World War II France and specialised in literary adaptations. She was the first commercially successful female director of post-war ...

, based on the British novel of that title, with

Edwige Feuillère Edwige Feuillère (born Edwige Louise Caroline Cunatti; October 29, 1907 – November 13, 1998) was a French stage and film actress. Biography She was born Edwige Louise Caroline Cunatti to an Italian architect father and an Alsace-born mo ...

and

Simone Simon Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon (23 April 1910 or 1911 – 22 February 2005) was a French film actress who began her film career in 1931. Early life Born in Marseille, France, she was the daughter of Henri Louis Firmin Clair Simon, a French J ...

in the leading roles.

References

British novels adapted into films British romance novels Novels with lesbian themes 1949 British novels 1940s LGBT novels British LGBT novels Novels set in schools Hogarth Press books