by Lynne Truss
First published 1997
It's 1864 on the Isle of Wight, where a colorful cast of creative types have gathered. Poet laureate Alfred Tennyson recites to furniture while his reclusive wife buries bad reviews. Photographer Julia Margaret Cameron hunts for the perfect portrait of the bard. Into this cauldron of egos and unrequited affections step painter G.F. Watts and his young actress wife Ellen Terry, as well as a pair of phrenologists. As these disparate personalities collide, a poignant story of love, art, and the human condition emerges.
Genres: art, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, biographical-fiction, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: artistic-temperaments, historical-figures
Setting: England, Isle of Wight, Wight, Isle of (England)
256 pages · Paperback · Penguin Books Ltd