Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel '' The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spiritual autobiography, reflecting her own changing and conflicting beliefs. Macaulay's novels were partly influenced by Virginia Woolf; she also wrote biographies and travelogues.

Early years and education

Macaulay was born in Rugby, Warwickshire the daughter of George Campbell Macaulay, a classical scholar, and his wife, Grace Mary (née Conybeare). Her father was descended in the

male-line Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

directly from the Macaulay family of Lewis. She was educated at Oxford High School for Girls and read Modern History at Somerville College at Oxford University.

Career

Macaulay began writing her first novel, ''Abbots Verney'' (published 1906), after leaving Somerville and while living with her parents at Ty Isaf, near Aberystwyth, in Wales. Later novels include ''The Lee Shore'' (1912), ''Potterism'' (1920), ''Dangerous Ages'' (1921), ''Told by an Idiot'' (1923), ''And No Man's Wit'' (1940), ''

The World My Wilderness ''The World My Wilderness'' is a novel published in 1950 by the English novelist, biographer and traveller Rose Macaulay (1881–1958), the last but one of her novels. Plot summary In the summer of 1945, Helen Michel is living in Southern France ...

'' (1950), and '' The Towers of Trebizond'' (1956). Her non-fiction work includes ''They Went to Portugal'', ''Catchwords and Claptrap'', a biography of

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

, and ''Pleasure of Ruins''. Macaulay's fiction was influenced by Virginia Woolf and Anatole France.

Stanley J. Kunitz Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

and Howard Haycraft, editors; ''Twentieth Century Authors, A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature'', (3rd edition). New York, The H. W. Wilson Company, 1950, pp. 865–66. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Macaulay worked in the British Propaganda Department, after some time as a nurse and later as a civil servant in the War Office. She pursued a romantic affair with Gerald O'Donovan, a writer and former Jesuit priest, whom she met in 1918; the relationship lasted until his death, in 1942. During the interwar period she was a sponsor of the pacifist Peace Pledge Union; however she resigned from the PPU and later recanted her pacifism in 1940. Her London flat was destroyed in the Blitz, and she had to rebuild her life and library from scratch, as documented in the semi-autobiographical short story, ''Miss Anstruther's Letters'', which was published in 1942. Rose Macaulay blue plaque, Hinde Street, London

Rose Macaulay blue plaque, Hinde Street, London

'' The Towers of Trebizond'', her final novel, is generally regarded as her masterpiece. Strongly autobiographical, it treats with wistful humour and deep sadness the attractions of mystical Christianity, and the irremediable conflict between adulterous love and the demands of the Christian faith. For this work, she received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1956.

Personal life

Macaulay was never a simple believer in " mere Christianity", and her writings reveal a more complex, mystical sense of the Divine. That said, she did not return to the Anglican church until 1953; she had been an ardent secularist before and, while religious themes pervade her novels, previous to her conversion she often treats Christianity satirically, for instance in ''Going Abroad'' and ''The World My Wilderness''. Macaulay never married. She was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) on 31 December 1957 in the 1958 New Years Honours''London Gazette'' notice of Macaulay's damehood
/ref> and died ten months later, on 30 October 1958, aged 77. She was an active feminist throughout her life.

Works

Fiction: * ''Abbots Verney'' (1906) John Murray * ''The Furnace'' (1907) John Murray * ''The Secret River'' (1909) John Murray * ''The Valley Captives'' (1911) John Murray * ''Views and Vagabonds'' (1912) John Murray * ''The Lee Shore'' (1913) Hodder & Stoughton * ''The Making of a Bigot'' (c 1914) Hodder & Stoughton * ''Non-Combatants and Others'' (1916) Hodder & Stoughton * ''What Not: A Prophetic Comedy'' (1918) * ''Potterism'' (1920) William Collins * ''Dangerous Ages'' (1921) William Collins * ''Mystery At Geneva: An Improbable Tale of Singular Happenings'' (1922) William Collins * ''Told by an Idiot'' (1923) William Collins * ''Orphan Island'' (1924) William Collins * ''Crewe Train'' (1926) William Collins * ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1928) William Collins * ''Staying with Relations'' (1930) William Collins * '' They Were Defeated'' (1932) William Collins * ''Going Abroad'' (1934) William Collins * ''I Would Be Private'' (1937) William Collins * ''And No Man's Wit'' (1940) William Collins * ''

'' (1950) William Collins * '' The Towers of Trebizond'' (1956) William Collins Poetry: * ''The Two Blind Countries'' (1914) Sidgwick & Jackson * ''Three Days'' (1919) Constable * ''Misfortunes'', with engravings by Stanley Morison (1930) Non-fiction: * ''A Casual Commentary'' (1925) Methuen * ''Some Religious Elements in English Literature'' (1931) Hogarth * ''Milton'' (1934) Duckworth * ''Personal Pleasures'' (1935) Gollancz * ''The Minor Pleasures of Life'' (1936) Gollancz * ''An Open Letter'' (1937) Peace Pledge Union * ''The Writings of E.M. Forster'' (1938) Hogarth * ''Life Among the English'' (1942) William Collins * ''Southey in Portugal'' (1945) Nicholson & Watson * ''They Went to Portugal'' (1946) Jonathan Cape * ''Evelyn Waugh'' (1946) Horizon * ''Fabled Shore: From the Pyrenees to Portugal By Road'' (1949) Hamish Hamilton * ''Pleasure of Ruins'' (1953) Thames & Hudson * ''Coming to London'' (1957) Phoenix House * ''Letters to a Friend 1950–52'' (1961) William Collins * ''Last Letters to a Friend 1952–1958'' (1962) William Collins * ''Letters to a Sister'' (1964) William Collins * ''They Went to Portugal Too'' (1990) (The second part of ''They Went to Portugal'', not published with the 1946 edition because of paper restrictions.) Carcanet

References

External links

* * * * * * * Profile of Rose o
Great Shelford website
where she lived some of her life {{DEFAULTSORT:Macaulay, Rose 1881 births 1958 deaths Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Anglo-Catholic writers British women in World War I Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English Anglo-Catholics English feminists English people of Scottish descent English women novelists Female nurses in World War I James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients

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