''Dusty Answer'' is English author

Rosamond Lehmann Rosamond Nina Lehmann (3 February 1901 – 12 March 1990) was an English novelist and translator. Her first novel, '' Dusty Answer'' (1927), was a ''succès de scandale''; she subsequently became established in the literary world, and intimat ...

's first novel, published in 1927. She sent it unsolicited to publishers

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his busines ...

, which agreed to publish it, saying it showed "decided quality".anokatony.wordpress.com
/ref> It went unnoticed on initial publication but then received an effusive review by respected critic

Alfred Noyes Alfred Noyes Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (16 September 188025 June 1958) was an English poet, short-story writer and playwright. Early years Noyes was born in Wolverhampton, England the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams No ...

of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' who called it "the sort of novel

Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tub ...

would have written", which brought it to public attention and it became a bestseller,Introduction by

Jonathan Coe Jonathan Coe (; born 19 August 1961) is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, '' What a ...

Virago Press Virago is a British publisher of women's writing and books on feminist topics. Started and run by women in the 1970s and bolstered by the success of the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM), Virago has been credited as one of several British femin ...

edition, publ. 2000, and according to ''The Guardian'' a "landmark book of the interwar period". Its success allowed her to leave her then husband and run off with maverick artist

Wogan Philipps Wogan Philipps, 2nd Baron Milford (25 February 1902 – 30 November 1993) was the only member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) ever to sit in the House of Lords. Early life Philipps was the eldest s ...

whom she later married.

Plot introduction

The story contains many elements of the author's childhood, albeit idealised. Like the author, the protagonist, Judith Earle, grew up privately educated in a large riverbank house in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, but unlike the author, Judith is an only child, with her only playmates being the five cousins next door: Julian, Charlie, Roddy, Martin and Mariella. Childhood friendships develop into romantic entanglements that continue as Judith leaves home for

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

. Judith's brief romantic involvement with Jennifer, a fellow student, scandalized contemporary readers.

Reception

With the exception of Alfred Noyes, most contemporary reviews concentrated on what was perceived as the author's unhealthy preoccupation with sex. In her memoir ''The Swan in the Evening'', Lehmann states "It was discussed, and even reviewed, in certain quarters as the outpourings of a sex-maniac". The ''Evening Standard'' cited ''Dusty Answer'' and

Alec Waugh Alexander Raban Waugh (8 July 1898 – 3 September 1981) was a British novelist, the elder brother of the better-known Evelyn Waugh, uncle of Auberon Waugh and son of Arthur Waugh, author, literary critic and publisher. His first wife was Ba ...

's ''The Loom of Youth'' as being a "corrupting influence" on the young. The novel triggered a literary scandal and came to be regarded as an epitome of the

Zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' (; ; capitalized in German) is an invisible agent, force, or daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. The term is usually associated with Georg W. F ...

Radio dramatisations

It has twice been dramatized for BBC Radio 4: * In 1990 by

Elspeth Sandys Elspeth Somerville Sandys (born 1940) is a New Zealand author and script writer. Background Born in Timaru in 1940, she grew up in Dunedin. She was adopted by the Alley family and was exposed to literature from a young age by Rewi Alley. ...

for ''The Monday Play'' * In 2010 by

Lavinia Greenlaw Lavinia Elaine Greenlaw (born 30 July 1962) is an English poet, novelist and non-fiction writer. She won the Prix du Premier Roman with her first novel and her poetry has been shortlisted for awards that include the T. S. Eliot Prize, Forward Pri ...

for '' Woman's Hour Drama'', narrated by Julia Hillsbbc.co.uk
/ref>

References

External links

Full text of ''Dusty Answer'' at the Internet Archive
from ''Time'' magazine (October 3, 1927)

Sophie Blanch, University of Surrey 1927 British novels English novels British romance novels British bildungsromans Novels set in Buckinghamshire Novels set in the University of Cambridge Chatto & Windus books Henry Holt and Company books 1927 debut novels British LGBTQ novels