Lady Violet Georgiana Powell (''née'' Pakenham; 13 March 1912 – 12 January 2002) was a British writer and critic. Her husband was the author

Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work '' A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powell ...

Life and career

Lady Violet was the third daughter of

Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford Brigadier-General Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford, KP, MVO (19 October 1864 – 21 August 1915), known as Lord Silchester until 1887, was an Anglo-Irish hereditary peer and soldier. Biography Background and early life Born in Dublin, ...

, and the former Lady Mary Child-Villiers, daughter of

Victor Child-Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey Victor Albert George Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey, (20 March 1845 – 31 May 1915) was a British banker, Conservative politician and colonial administrator from the Villiers family. He served as Governor of New South Wales between 1891 an ...

. She was educated at

St Margaret's School, Bushey St Margaret's School is an independent co-educational boarding and day school for pupils aged 2–18 in Bushey, Hertfordshire. As well as day places, the school offers boarding options for pupils from year 7 (age 11) and is situated in of ...

. Lady Violet was a member of a literary family; her brothers were

Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford Edward Arthur Henry Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford (29 December 1902 – 5 February 1961) was an Irish peer, politician, and ''littérateur''. Also known as Eamon de Longphort, he was a member of the fifth Seanad Éireann, the upper house of th ...

and

Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001), known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and social reformer. A member of the Labour Party (U ...

, while her sisters included the novelist and biographer

Lady Pansy Lamb Lady Margaret Pansy Felicia Lamb, known as Lady Pansy Lamb (18 May 1904 – 19 February 1999), was an English writer under her maiden name of Pansy Pakenham. A novelist, biographer, and translator of French poetry, she was the wife of the Austra ...

and the historian

Lady Mary Clive Lady Mary Katherine Clive (''née'' Pakenham 23 August 1907 – 19 March 2010) was a British writer and historian, known for her memoirs of her family and her time as a debutante. Life Born into the Anglo-Irish Longford family, Lady Mary was t ...

. She was herself a distinguished memoirist and biographer. Her biography ''The Life of a Provincial Lady'' (1988), about E. M. Delafield, has been called by the scholar

Nicholas Birns Nicholas Birns (born May 30, 1965) is a scholar of literature, including fantasy and Australian literature. As a Tolkien scholar he has written on a variety of topics including " The Scouring of the Shire" and Tolkien's biblical sources. His analy ...

"one of the best literary biographies of a British writer in the twentieth century". Those who knew the couple well believed that Lady Violet made significant contributions to the richness, depth and polish of her husband's work.

, ''Understanding Anthony Powell'' (2004), p. 7 She also wrote a biography of the English novelist

Flora Annie Steel Flora Annie Steel (2 April 1847 – 12 April 1929) was a writer who lived in British India for 22 years. She was noted especially for books set in the Indian subcontinent or connected with it. Her novel '' On the Face of the Waters'' (1896) desc ...

. Anthony Powell's novel, '' Agents and Patients'', is dedicated to Lady Violet.

Influence

She is generally taken to be the model for the character of Isobel Tolland in her husband's

novel sequence A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publ ...

A Dance to the Music of Time ''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is a 12-volume ''Book series#History, roman-fleuve'' by English writer Anthony Powell, published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim. The story is an often comic examination of movements and manners, power ...

''.

Books

Some of her books are: * ''A Substantial Ghost: The Literary Adventures of Maude ffoulkes'' (1967) * ''The Irish Cousins: The Books and Background of

Somerville and Ross Somerville and Ross ( Edith Somerville and Violet Florence Martin, writing under the name Martin Ross) were an Anglo-Irish writing team, perhaps most famous for their series of books that were made into the TV series '' The Irish R.M.''. The te ...

'' (1970) * '' Margaret, Countess of Jersey: A Biography'' (1978) * ''

: Novelist of India'' (1981) * ''The Constant Novelist: A Study of

Margaret Kennedy Margaret Davies, Lady Davies (née Kennedy ; 23 April 1896 – 31 July 1967) was an English novelist and playwright. Her most successful work, as a novel and as a play, was '' The Constant Nymph''. She was a productive writer and several of her ...

, 1896–1967'' (1983) * ''A Compton-Burnett Compendium'' (1973) * ''The Album of Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time'' (1987) * ''The Life of a Provincial Lady: A Study of

E.M. Delafield Edmée Elizabeth Monica Dashwood, née de la Pasture (9 June 1890 – 2 December 1943), commonly known as E. M. Delafield, was a prolific English author. She wrote novels, short stories, essays, and plays, but is now best known for her larg ...

and Her Works'' (1988) * ''A

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

Compendium: The Six Major Novels'' (1993)

Autobiography

* ''Five Out of Six: An Autobiography'' - a reference to her birth order amongst her siblings (1960) * ''Within the Family Circle: An Autobiography'' (1976) * ''The Departure Platform: An Autobiography'' (1998) * ''A Stone in the Shade: Last Memoirs'' - posthumous (2013)

Personal life

She married Anthony Powell (21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) on 1 December 1934 at All Saints Anglican Church,

Ennismore Gardens ''Ennismore'' is the second solo studio album by the English singer Colin Blunstone of rock band the Zombies. The name of the album comes from Ennismore Gardens, a square in Knightsbridge where Blunstone was living; the name being a variant spe ...

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

; they had two children, Tristram and John.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Violet 1912 births 2002 deaths English biographers Daughters of Irish earls People educated at St Margaret's School, Bushey

Violet Violet may refer to: Common meanings * Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue * One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly: ** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants Places United States * Vi ...

English women writers British women autobiographers English autobiographers English women memoirists