Description
Book SynopsisJohn Wyndham redefined science fiction with dystopian classics The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos. In Hidden Wyndham, Amy Binns reveals the woman who was the inspiration for his strong-minded heroines. Their secret love affair sustained this gentle and desperately shy man through failure, war, and, ultimately, success.
Trade Review"Wyndham was a public persona, just one of many pseudonyms...The man behind all of them kept himself well hidden, and thanks to this perceptive biography published over fifty years after his death, only now is he becoming visible." Pippa Goldschmidt in the Times Literary Supplement. "At last we have in Amy Binns's new biography of John Wyndham a well-written and objectively researched book...an excellent book." Christopher Priest, author of The Prestige. "Letter after letter illuminates the deeply affective and humane consciousness of a man who longed to be reunited with his partner and confidante, and yet felt profoundly rattled by his own war-time actions...thoroughly revealing, engrossing, often charming, and quite moving. At times I found myself wondering if Wyndham's ghost would be dismayed by this posthumous invasion of his privacy - and then I turned the page and read on." Alvaro Zinos-Amaro in Locus Magazine. "There are times when perhaps one does not wish to learn more about one's literary heroes, just in case, but in this instance, Amy Binns' excellent account of John Wyndham's life has only increased my respect for the man and his writing." Maureen Kincaid Speller in Interzone.
Table of ContentsPart One: 1903-1939: Edgbaston, Birmingham, March 1911; Edwardian Scandals; Discovering Utopia; Love Without Chains; Pulp Fiction. Part Two: 1939-1945: Row Cottage, Steep, 3 September 1939; Jack's Blitz, Grace's Exile; The Long Haul; Somewhere in France; The Final Push. Part Three: 1946-1969: The Penn Club, London, 12 June 1949; The Day of the Triffids; New Worlds; Aliens Among Us; Wyndham's Women; Return to Utopia. Epilogue, List of Works, Acknowledgements.
