{"product_id":"the-good-bohemian-9781408873595","title":"The Good Bohemian","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''It is right that, after more than one hundred years, she should have her say'' John Carey, \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eTwelve days before her twenty-fourth birthday, on the foggy morning of Saturday 12 January 1901, Ida Nettleship married Augustus John in a private ceremony at St Pancras Registry Office. The union went against the wishes of Ida's parents, who aspired to an altogether more conventional match for their eldest daughter. But Ida was in love with Augustus, a man of exceptional magnetism also studying at the Slade, and who would become one of the most famous artists of his time.  Ida's letters  to friends, to family and to Augustus  reveal a young woman of passion, intensity and wit. They tell of the scandal she brought on the Nettleship family and its consquences; of hurt and betrayal as the marriage evolved into a three-way affair when Augustus fell in love with another woman, Dorelia; of Ida's remarkable acceptance of Dorelia, their pregnancies and shared domesticity; of \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is a terrible ending to a terrible story. You might say that it was all Ida’s fault. She was just a silly goose who mistook her grander for a phoenix. But that would not be true to the brave, witty, imaginative, sensitive, playful, talented woman who wrote these letters. \u003cb\u003eIt is right that, after more than one hundred years, she should have her say\u003c\/b\u003e -- John Carey * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eIn the letters, \u003cb\u003eerotic energy occasionally seems to be pushing in all directions\u003c\/b\u003e at once … She may have forfeited her chance to paint, but her letters, salvaged by her granddaughter Rebecca, after a century during which the renegade Ida was not mentioned in the family, make belated amends. Between baby-minding chores, she proved to be \u003cb\u003ea witty, wickedly outspoken writer\u003c\/b\u003e, which ensures that she will now not be forgotten -- Peter Conrad * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eThe letters of Ida Nettleship, first wife of arch-bohemian Augustus John, are a case in point: gathered together here from diverse sources by her granddaughter Rebecca John and \u003cb\u003eexpertly introduced by John’s biographer Michael Holroyd,\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003ethey constitute a rare epistolary treasure trove \u003c\/b\u003e… they give us a \u003cb\u003estartlingly vivid  picture\u003c\/b\u003e of what it was like to be bound by passion, loyalty and an ever-growing brood of offspring to a ‘genius’ ... the fine balance between tragedy and comedy in her situation \u003cb\u003efinds expression in letters so fresh that it is hard to believe they were written more than a century ago\u003c\/b\u003e -- Ariane Banks * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eTheir sympathetic edition of her fascinating and painful letters reveals a courageous woman, gifted with a buoyant intelligence -- Dinah Birch * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eRarely have I come across a more engaging personality -- D.J. Taylor * Times Literary Supplement 'Books of the Year' *\u003cbr\u003eA compelling glimpse of a lost age of bohemia that raises provocative questions about what it means to live freely -- Lara Feigel * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eThe letters, published here for the first time, go a long way to recovering [Ida] and tell a painful story of an emotionally sophisticated, morally honest woman struggling with the trap in which she finds herself, trying by turns to escape and take control of the situation. To different correspondents she showed different facets of her predicament and \u003cb\u003ethe result is a portrait both fragmentary and poignant \u003c\/b\u003e -- Rosemary Hill * London Review of Books *\u003cbr\u003eThe reader remains haunted by Ida’s story, but also left aware that letters offer something that the grand narrative of a good biography often sweeps over or ignores: small contingencies, sudden mood changes, or what falls between the cracks. Indeed the very human muddle that is found here -- Frances Spalding * Oldie *\u003cbr\u003eThese letters should resurrect [Ida] as a wit and object of fascination in her own right * Daily Telegraph *","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48866823897431,"sku":"9781408873595","price":13.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781408873595.jpg?v=1722280159","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-good-bohemian-9781408873595","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}