Description
Book SynopsisThe narrators in this novel are the First World War poet, Edward Thomas, and his wife Helen. It is the story of a man's change from despair to fulfilment through friendship and the inspiration of nature, and of the consequences of that for his family. The novel is set in the tranquil rural world of an England gradually aware of the meaning of war.
Trade Review'[Margaret Keeping's] inhabitation of Edward, Robert, Helen and their world is tender and subtle...a lovely novel.' Robert Macfarlane. ***** '[Margaret Keeping's] writing is very assured and she has the necessary eye for place, detail, weather and seasons to write about Edward Thomas...I hope the book will reach the wide audience it deserves and feel sure that many others will enjoy it as much as I have.' Linda Newbery, author of Set in Stone. ***** REVIEW 1 of 5: 'A Conscious Englishman...turns its subject into a twentieth-century equivalent of the old-fashioned notion of Keats: a poet misvalued by his times and cruelly cut down...' Peter McDonald, The Times Literary Supplement. REVIEW 2 of 5: 'A Conscious Englishman holds its own against other versions of the same story and provides an easier route than academic studies into the contexts of Thomas's writing. Anyone with a burgeoning interest in Thomas should begin by reading the poems, but A Conscious Englishman is a worthy addition to the expanding secondary literature.' Gabriel Roberts, The Oxonian Review. REVIEW 3 of 5: 'The author's research on Frost, Farjeon and Thomas is commendable, and her sympathies obviously lie with Edward...' Janet Williamson, The Historical Novels Review. REVIEW 4 of 5: 'A Conscious Englishman offers a unique perspective on the last four years of Edward Thomas, confronting and imagining inner thoughts and feelings, and conversations with those close to him, questioning the unemotional documenting of facts by biographers. It reaches, and allows us to glimpse, important moments in the life of Edward Thomas that non-fiction is not able to.' James Riding, Friends of the Dymock Poets Newsletter. REVIEW 5 of 5: 'An absorbing book...This novel is very good on the influences behind the wonderful poetry.' Merryn Williams, The Oxford Times
