Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel '' The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

group crossing

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

. The story is seen as a spiritual

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

, reflecting her own changing and conflicting beliefs. Macaulay's novels were partly influenced by

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

. She also wrote

biographies A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

, travelogues and

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

Early years and education

Macaulay was born in

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, its population was 78,117, making it the List of Warwickshire towns by population, secon ...

the daughter of George Campbell Macaulay, a

classical scholar Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, and his wife, Grace Mary (née Conybeare). Her father was descended in the male-line directly from the Macaulay family of Lewis. She was educated at Oxford High School for Girls and read Modern History at

Somerville College Somerville College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The college's liberal tone derives from its f ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. In 1906 her father, George Campbell Macaulay, moved to Southernwood, a grand house in

Great Shelford Great Shelford is a village located approximately to the south of Cambridge, in Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. In 1850 Great Shelford parish contained bisected by the River Cam. The population in 1841 was 803 people. By 2001, this had g ...

, near Cambridge. She spent much of her time in the company of the poet

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.) was an En ...

, a family friend. During the First World War, she worked as a land girl in Shelford. Here she was inspired to write a collection of poems called "On the Land 1916" recalling the hard work and companionship of those days.

Career

Macaulay began writing her first novel, ''Abbots Verney'' (published 1906), after leaving Somerville and while living with her parents at Ty Isaf, near

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

, in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Later novels include ''The Lee Shore'' (1912), ''Potterism'' (1920), ''Dangerous Ages'' (1921), ''Told by an Idiot'' (1923), ''And No Man's Wit'' (1940), '' The World My Wilderness'' (1950), and '' The Towers of Trebizond'' (1956). Her non-fiction work includes ''They Went to Portugal'', ''Catchwords and Claptrap'', a biography of

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

, and ''Pleasure of Ruins''. Macaulay's fiction was influenced by Virginia Woolf and

Anatole France (; born ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft, editors; ''Twentieth Century Authors, A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature'', (3rd edition). New York, The H. W. Wilson Company, 1950, pp. 865–66. Her

dystopian A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...

novel ''What Not'' (1918) deals with

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

and misinformation in a fictional version of England. It was first published in 1918, then withdrawn and republished in 1919 with some passages removed. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Macaulay worked in the British Propaganda Department, after some time as a nurse and later as a civil servant in the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

. She pursued a romantic affair with Gerald O'Donovan, a writer and former Jesuit priest, whom she met in 1918; the relationship lasted until his death, in 1942. During the interwar period she was a sponsor of the pacifist

Peace Pledge Union The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) is a non-governmental organisation that promotes pacifism, based in the United Kingdom. Its members are signatories to the following pledge: "War is a crime against humanity. I renounce war, and am therefore determine ...

; however, she resigned from the PPU and later recanted her pacifism in 1940. In the same period, she found new audiences through broadcasts on the BBC, and as a

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

in journals such as ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'', ''The Listener'', and '' Time and Tide.'' In January 1941, Macaulay wrote: "The pageant of life is enormously enriched by the presence of so many foreigners in our midst...the uniforms of Polish soldiers mingle with those of the Czechs, Norwegians, Dutch and Free French...And not only foreigners. Driving in the country, you are continually hailed by the rich accents of young men in battle-dress from Alberta and Montreal, who seldom know where they are, and always want to go somewhere else. They are as a rule enormously charming". Her London flat was destroyed in

the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

, and she had to rebuild her life and library from scratch, as documented in the semi-autobiographical short story, ''Miss Anstruther's Letters'', which was published in 1942. '' The Towers of Trebizond'', her final novel, is generally regarded as her masterpiece. Strongly autobiographical, it treats with wistful humour and deep sadness the attractions of

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight ...

Christianity, and the irremediable conflict between adulterous love and the demands of the Christian faith. For this work, she received the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

in 1956.

Personal life

Macaulay was never a simple believer in "

mere Christianity ''Mere Christianity'' is a Christian apologetical book by the British author C. S. Lewis. It was adapted from a series of BBC radio talks made between 1941 and 1944, originally published as three separate volumes: ''Broadcast Talks'' (1942), ' ...

", and her writings reveal a more complex, mystical sense of the Divine. That said, she did not return to the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church until 1953; she had been an ardent

secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

before and, while religious themes pervade her novels, previous to her conversion she often treats Christianity satirically, for instance in ''Going Abroad'' and ''The World My Wilderness''. Macaulay never married. She was created a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) on 31 December 1957 in the 1958 New Year Honours and died ten months later, on 30 October 1958, aged 77. She was an active

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

throughout her life.

Works

Fiction: * ''Abbots Verney'' (1906) John Murray * ''The Furnace'' (1907) John Murray * ''The Secret River'' (1909) John Murray * ''The Valley Captives'' (1911) John Murray * ''Views and Vagabonds'' (1912) John Murray * ''The Lee Shore'' (1913) Hodder & Stoughton * ''The Making of a Bigot'' (c 1914) Hodder & Stoughton * ''Non-Combatants and Others'' (1916) Hodder & Stoughton * ''What Not: A Prophetic Comedy'' (1918) * ''Potterism'' (1920) William Collins * ''Dangerous Ages'' (1921) William Collins * ''Mystery At Geneva: An Improbable Tale of Singular Happenings'' (1922) William Collins * ''Told by an Idiot'' (1923) William Collins * ''Orphan Island'' (1924) William Collins * ''Crewe Train'' (1926) William Collins * ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1928) William Collins * ''Staying with Relations'' (1930) William Collins * '' They Were Defeated'' (1932) William Collins * ''Going Abroad'' (1934) William Collins * ''I Would Be Private'' (1937) William Collins * ''And No Man's Wit'' (1940) William Collins * '' The World My Wilderness'' (1950) William Collins * '' The Towers of Trebizond'' (1956) William Collins Poetry: * ''The Two Blind Countries'' (1914) Sidgwick & Jackson * ''Picnic: July 1917'', with guns in France audible * ''Three Days'' (1919) Constable * ''Misfortunes'', with engravings by

Stanley Morison Stanley Arthur Morison (6 May 1889 – 11 October 1967) was a British typographer, printing executive and historian of printing. Largely self-educated, he promoted higher standards in printing and an awareness of the best printing and typefaces ...

(1930) Non-fiction: * ''A Casual Commentary'' (1925) Methuen * ''Some Religious Elements in English Literature'' (1931) Hogarth * ''Milton'' (1934) Duckworth * ''Personal Pleasures'' (1935) Gollancz * ''The Minor Pleasures of Life'' (1936) Gollancz * ''An Open Letter'' (1937) Peace Pledge Union * ''The Writings of E.M. Forster'' (1938) Hogarth * ''Life Among the English'' (1942) William Collins * ''Southey in Portugal'' (1945) Nicholson & Watson * ''They Went to Portugal'' (1946) Jonathan Cape * ''Evelyn Waugh'' (1946) Horizon * ''Fabled Shore: From the Pyrenees to Portugal By Road'' (1949) Hamish Hamilton * ''Pleasure of Ruins'' (1953) Thames & Hudson * ''Coming to London'' (1957) Phoenix House * ''Letters to a Friend 1950–52'' (1961) William Collins * ''Last Letters to a Friend 1952–1958'' (1962) William Collins * ''Letters to a Sister'' (1964) William Collins * ''They Went to Portugal Too'' (1990) (The second part of ''They Went to Portugal'', not published with the 1946 edition because of paper restrictions.) Carcanet

References

External links

* * * * * * * * Profile of Rose o
Great Shelford website
where she lived some of her life {{DEFAULTSORT:Macaulay, Rose 1881 births 1958 deaths Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Anglo-Catholic writers British women in World War I Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English Anglo-Catholics English feminists English people of Scottish descent English women novelists English satirists English satirical novelists Female nurses in World War I James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...