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A Long Time Ago

byMargaret Kennedy

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Elissa Koebel's memoir is as scandalous and self-absorbed as its writer, but for Hope, it is more than just the latest salacious read. The chapter 'A Summer in Ireland' tells of an episode that Hope remembers well, when the younger, beautiful and unconventional Koebel arrived to disrupt a family holiday. But back then, Hope could not guess that her own fascination with Elissa was echoed by her father. Letters from the time reveal yet another side of the story - but which version of the story is the truth?
Margaret Kennedy caught just the taste of the time, mixing a stolid domestic Englishness with 'Continental' bohemians
Irish Times

About Margaret Kennedy

Margaret Kennedy was born in London in 1896 and read History at Somerville College, Oxford in 1915 (alongside Winifred Holtby and Vera Brittain) where she began writing. In 1924, Kennedy’s second novel The Constant Nymph became a worldwide bestseller which she adapted into a hit West End play starring Noel Coward (three different star-studded film versions followed). Described as ‘superb’ by Elizabeth Bowen, Kennedy wrote fifteen further prize-winning novels including The Feast in 1950, as well as literary criticism and a biography of Jane Austen. She died in 1967.
Details
  • Imprint: Vintage Classics
  • ISBN: 9780099595472
  • Length: 336 pages
  • Dimensions: 198mm x 21mm x 129mm
  • Weight: 235g
  • Price: £15.99
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