Ethel Edith Mannin (6 October 1900 – 5 December 1984) was a popular British

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

travel writer The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. History Early examples of travel literature include the '' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered ...

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

and

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

. She was born in London.

Life and career

Mannin's father, Robert Mannin (d. 1948) was a member of the Socialist League who passed his left-wing beliefs on to his daughter.Ethel Mannin, ''This was a man: some memories of Robert Mannin''. London, Jarrolds 1952. (pp. 24–25) Mannin later stated that: "His socialism went a great deal deeper than any politics or party policy; it was the authentic socialism of the

Early Christians Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and bey ...

, the true communism of 'all things in common' utterly-and tragically-remote from

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

". When at boarding school, following the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Mannin was asked to write an essay on "Patriotism". Hoping to impress her favourite teacher (a

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

sympathiser) Mannin's essay was an advocacy of anti-patriotic and anti-monarchist ideas. For writing the essay, Mannin's headmistress scolded her and made her kneel in the school hall all morning. Mannin often mentioned this incident in her autobiographies as shaping her later politics. Andy Croft, "Ethel Mannin: The Red Rose of Love and the Red Flower of Liberty" in Angela Ingram and Daphne Patai, (ed.),''Rediscovering Forgotten Radicals : British Women Writers, 1889-1939''.Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 1993. (p. 205-225). Her writing career began in copy-writing and journalism. She became a prolific author, and also politically and socially concerned. Mannin's memoir of the 1920s, ''Confessions and Impressions'' sold widely and was one of the first

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboar ...

. She initially supported the Labour Party but became disillusioned in the 1930s. Initially sympathetic to the Soviet Union, a 1936 visit there left her disillusioned with Stalinism, which she described in her book ''South to Samarkand''.''Twentieth century authors, a biographical dictionary of modern literature'', edited by Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft; (Third Edition). New York, The H.W. Wilson Company, 1950 (pp. 905–6) According to R. F. FosterRoy Foster, ''W. B. Yeats – A Life, II: The Arch-Poet 1915-1939''. Oxford, 2003, (pp. 504, 510–512). "She was a member of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

, and her ideology in the 1930s tended to

anarcho-syndicalism Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchism, anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade uni ...

rather than hardline Communism, but she was emphatically and vociferously left-wing". She came to support

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

, and wrote about the Russian-born, American anarchist

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born Anarchism, anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europ ...

, a colleague in the ''

Solidaridad Internacional Antifascista Solidaridad Internacional Antifascista (), SIA, was a humanitarian organisation that existed in the Second Spanish Republic. It was politically aligned with the anarcho-syndicalist movement composed of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, CNT ...

'' at the time of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. Mannin was actively involved in

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influenc ...

activity on behalf of African nations during the 1930s, and befriended

George Padmore George Padmore (28 June 1903 – 23 September 1959), born Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse, was a leading Pan-Africanist, journalist, and author. He left his native Trinidad in 1924 to study medicine in the United States, where he also joined the C ...

, C. L. R. James and Chris Braithwaite who were leading figures involved in these movements. Mannin was actively involved in

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

movements, including the Women's World Committee Against War and Fascism. Mannin supported the military actions of the

Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissol ...

, but opposed the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Mannin listed

Bart de Ligt Bartholomeus de Ligt (17 July 1883 – 3 September 1938) was a Dutch anarcho-pacifist and antimilitarist. He is chiefly known for his support of conscientious objectors. Life and work Born on 17 July 1883 in Schalkwijk, Utrecht, his father wa ...

and A. S. Neill as thinkers who influenced her ideas. She described

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

and

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

as the writers she most admired, called

Norman Haire Norman Haire, born Norman Zions (21 January 1892, Sydney – 11 September 1952, London) was an Australian medical practitioner and sexologist. He has been called "the most prominent sexologist in Britain" between the wars. Life When Norman was ...

the "one completely rational person she had ever met" and stated her "opposition to

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

, orthodox education and

blood sports A blood sport or bloodsport is a category of sport or entertainment that involves bloodshed. Common examples of the former include combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting, and some forms of hunting and fishing. Activities characte ...

". In 1943 she wrote the introduction to Dame

Kathleen Lonsdale Dame Kathleen Lonsdale ( Yardley; 28 January 1903 – 1 April 1971) was an Irish crystallographer, pacifist, and prison reform activist. She proved, in 1929, that the benzene ring is flat by using X-ray diffraction methods to elucidate the str ...

's ''Some account of life in Holloway prison for women,'' an influential report written for and published by the Prison Medical Reform Council Mannin's 1944 book ''Bread and Roses: A Utopian Survey and Blue-Print'' has been described by historian Robert Graham as setting forth "an

ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

vision in opposition to the prevailing and destructive industrial organization of society". In 1954, Mannin was one of several signatories to a letter protesting against mass executions of Kenyans by the colonial government who had been "charged with offences less than murder". In her seventies, Mannin still described herself as an anti-monarchist "Republican" and a "

Tolstoyan The Tolstoyan movement () is a social movement based on the philosophical and religious views of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910). Tolstoy's views were formed by rigorous study of the ministry of Jesus, particularly the Sermon on the ...

anarchist". She married twice: in 1919, a short-lived relationship from which she gained one daughter, Jean Porteous, a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

in WW2, for whom she gave evidence at a Tribunal;''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'', 16 May 1942 and in 1938 to Reginald Reynolds, a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

and go-between in India between

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

and the British authorities. In 1934–35 she was in an intense but problematic intellectual, emotional and physical relationship with

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

, who was on the rebound from

Margot Ruddock Marguerite "Margot" Ruddock (1907–1951), who used the stage name Margot Collis, was an English actress, poet and singer. She had a relationship with W. B. Yeats starting in 1934. Their correspondence was published as ''Ah, Sweet Dancer'' (1970 ...

and about to fall for

Dorothy Wellesley Dorothy Violet Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington ( Ashton; 30 July 1889 – 11 July 1956), styled Lady Gerald Wellesley between 1914 and 1943, was an English author, poet, literary editor and socialite. Background She was born in White Walt ...

(a detailed account is in R. F. Foster's life of Yeats, concluding mainly that her emotional engagement was much less than his). She also had a well-publicised affair with

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

Works

Autobiographies

*''Confessions and Impressions'' (1930) *''Privileged Spectator'' (1939) *''Connemara Journal'' (1947) *''Brief Voices'' (1959) *''Young in the Twenties: A Chapter of Autobiography'' (1971) *''Sunset over Dartmoor: A Final Chapter of Autobiography'' (1977)

Other works

*''Martha'' (1923) *''Hunger of the Sea'' (1924) *''Sounding Brass'' (1925) *''Three Stories of Romance'' (1925) with

Warwick Deeping George Warwick Deeping (28 May 1877 – 20 April 1950) was an English novelist and short story writer, whose best-known novel was '' Sorrell and Son'' (1925). Life Born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, into a family of physicians, Warwick Deeping ...

and

Gilbert Frankau Captain Gilbert Frankau (21 April 1884 – 4 November 1952) was a popular British novelist. He was known also for verse (he was a war poet of World War I), including a number of verse novels, and short stories. He was born in London into a Je ...

*''Pilgrims'' (1927) *''Green Willows'' (1928) *''Crescendo, Being the Dark Odyssey of Gilbert Stroud'' (1929) *''Children of the Earth'' (1930) * '' Song of the Bomber'' (1936) *''Ragged Banners'' (1931) *''Bruised Wings and Other Stories'' (1931) *''Common-sense and the Child'' (1931) *''Green Figs'' (1931) stories *''The Tinsel Eden and Other Stories'' (1931) *''All Experience'' (1932) *''Linda Shawn'' (1932) *''Love's Winnowing'' (1932) *''Venetian Blinds'' (1933) *''Dryad'' (1933) stories *''Men Are Unwise'' (1934) *''Some Adventures with a School'' (1934) with Margaret Johnston *''Cactus'' (1935) *''Forever Wandering'' (1935) *''The Falconer's Voice'' (1935) *''Forbidden Music'' (1935) *
South to Samarkand
' (1936) *''Spain and Us'' (with J. B. Priestley,

Rebecca West Dame Cecily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...

Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry ...

Francis Meynell Sir Francis Meredith Wilfrid Meynell (12 May 1891 – 10 July 1975) was a British poet and printer at The Nonesuch Press. Early career He was the son of the journalist and publisher Wilfrid Meynell and the poet Alice Meynell, a suffragi ...

, Louis Golding, T. F. Powys, J. Langdon-Davies,

Catherine Carswell Catherine Roxburgh Carswell (née Macfarlane; 27 March 1879 – 18 February 1946) was a Scottish author, biographer and journalist, now known as one of the few women to take part in the Scottish Renaissance. Her biography of the Scottish poet R ...

) (1936) *''The Pure Flame'' (1936) *''Sounding Brass'' (1937) *''Women Also Dream'' (1937) *''Common-Sense and the Adolescent'' (1937) *''Women and the Revolution'' (1938) *''Rose and Sylvie'' (1938) *''Darkness My Bride'' (1938) *''Julie: The story of a dance-hostess'' (1940) *''Rolling in the Dew'' (1940) *''Against Race-Hatred and for a Socialist Peace'' (with

Richard Acland Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet (26 November 1906 – 24 November 1990) was one of the founding members of the British Common Wealth Party in 1942, having previously been a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP). He joined the Labour ...

Vera Brittain Vera Mary Brittain (29 December 1893 – 29 March 1970) was an English Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, socialist and pacifist. Her best-selling 1933 memoir '' Testament of Youth'' recounted her experiences during the Fir ...

, G. D. H. Cole,

Victor Gollancz Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian. Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing politics. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism; he defined himself as a Christian ...

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 Sarg ...

James Maxton James Maxton (22 June 1885 – 23 July 1946) was a Scottish left-wing politician, and leader of the Independent Labour Party. He was a pacifist who opposed both world wars. A prominent proponent of Home Rule for Scotland, he is remembered as on ...

and J. B Priestley) (1940) *''Commonsense and Morality'' (1941) *''Red Rose: A Novel based on the Life of

'' (1941) *''Captain Moonlight'' (1942) *''The Blossoming Bough'' (1942) *''Castles in the Street'' (1942) *''Proud Heaven'' (1943) *''No More Mimosa'' (1943) *''Bread and Roses: An Utopian Survey and Blue-Print'' (1944) *''Comrade O Comrade, or, Low-Down on the Left'' (1945) *''Lucifer and the Child'' (1945) *''Christianity or Chaos?'' (1946) *''Selected Stories'' (1946) *''The Dark Forest'' (1946) *''Why I Am Still a Pacifist'' (with Catherina de Ligt, Hugh Fausset,

Laurence Housman Laurence Housman (; 18 July 1865 – 20 February 1959) was an English playwright, writer and illustrator whose career stretched from the 1890s to the 1950s. He studied art in London and worked largely as an illustrator during the first years o ...

Clare Sheridan Clare Consuelo Sheridan (née Frewen; 9 September 1885 – 31 May 1970) was an English sculptor, journalist and writer, known primarily for creating busts for famous sitters and keeping travel diaries. She was a cousin of Sir Winston Churchill ...

, Alex Wood, and Myrtle Wright) (1946). *''Bavarian Story'' (1948) *''German Journey'' (1948) *''Late Have I Loved Thee'' (1948) *''Every Man a Stranger'' (1949) *''Jungle Journey: 7000 Miles through India and Pakistan'' (1950) *''At Sundown the Tiger'' (1951) *''The Fields at Evening'' (1952) *''The Wild Swans and Other Tales Based on the Ancient Irish'' (1952) *''This Was a Man: Some Memories of Robert Mannin by His Daughter'' (1952) *''Lover under Another Name'' (1953) *''Moroccan Mosaic'' (1953) *''So Tiberius …'' (1954) *''Two Studies in Integrity: Gerald Griffin and the Rev. Francis Mahony'' ("Father Prout") (1954) *''Land of the Crested Lion: A Journey through Modern Burma'' (1955) *''The Living Lotus'' (1956) *''Pity the Innocent'' (1957) *''The Country of the Sea: Some Wanderings in Brittany'' (1957) *''Fragrance of Hyacinths'' (1958) *''Ann and Peter in Sweden'' (1959) *''The Blue-eyed Boy'' (1959) *''Ann and Peter in Japan'' (1960) *''The Flowery Sword: Travels in Japan'' (1960) *''Sabishisha'' (1961) *''Ann and Peter in Austria'' (1962) *''Curfew at Dawn'' (1962) *''With Will Adams Through Japan'' (1962) *''A Lance for the Arabs: A Middle East Journey'' (1963) *''The Road to

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

'' ( Hutchinson, 1963). *''Aspects of Egypt: Some Travels in the United Arab Republic'' (1964) *''Rebels' Ride. A Consideration of the Revolt of the Individual'' (1964) *''Report from Iraq'' (1964) *''Lovely Land: The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan'' (1965) *''The Burning Bush'' (1965) *''Loneliness: A Study of the Human Condition'' (1966) *''The Night and Its Homing'' (1966) *''The Lady and the Mystic'' (1967) *''An American Journey'' (1967) *''Bitter Babylon'' (1968) *''England for a Change'' (1968) *''The Saga of Sammy-Cat'' (1969) *''Practitioners of Love. Some Aspects of the Human Phenomenon'' (1969) *''The Midnight Street'' (1969) *''England at Large'' (1970) *''Free Pass to Nowhere'' (1970) *''My Cat Sammy'' (1971) *''England My Adventure'' (1972) *''The Curious Adventure of Major Fosdick'' (1972) *''Mission to Beirut'' (1973) *''Stories from My Life'' (1973) *''An Italian Journey'' (1974) *''Kildoon'' (1974) *''The Late Miss Guthrie'' (1976)

Short stories

*’'The Unremembered Years'’. John Bull, 28 December 1929

References

External links

Ethel Mannin page
Stan Iverson Archives

* John Newsinger

, ''Socialist Review'', 428 (October 2017) * John Newsinger
Ethel Mannin, women and the revolution
''International Socialism'', 173 (2022). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mannin, Ethel 1900 births 1984 deaths 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers Anti-Stalinist left British anarchists British anti-fascists English pacifists English people of Irish descent English republicans English travel writers English women travel writers English women novelists People from Clapham Writers from the London Borough of Lambeth