The Hyacinth Girl: T. S. Eliot's Hidden Muse

T. S. Eliot's hidden muse, Emily Hale, the Hyacinth Girl of the famous The Waste Land poem, is revealed by Gordon. He reveals a life-long love for her, which had a profound influence on his work. Gordon also offers new insight into the other spirited women who shaped him.

Format: Hardback
Length: 512 pages
Publication date: 06 October 2022
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

The revealing of T. S. Eliot's hidden muse - Emily Hale, the Hyacinth Girl of the famous "The Waste Land" poem, is an extraordinary work of sympathy and insight. Colm Tóibín, Gordon, sifts through the documents with her customary care and delicacy. Frances Wilson, Telegraph, thanks to Gordon's meticulous research and inspired storytelling, we will never read Eliot's poems the same way again. Heather Clark, Sunday Times, Exquisitely nuanced. Kathryn Hughes, Sunday Times, An illuminating account. Publishers Weekly, As exciting as a detective story... Gordon establishes the profound influence the relationship had upon the substance and, in particular, upon the imagery of Eliot's work. Margaret Drabble, New Statesman, Among the greatest of poets, T. S. Eliot protected his privacy while publicly associated with three women: two wives and a church-going companion. This presentation concealed a life-long love for an American: Emily Hale, a drama teacher to whom he wrote (and later suppressed) over a thousand letters. Hale was the source of memory and desire in "The Waste Land"; she is the Hyacinth Girl. Drawing on the dramatic new material of the only recently unsealed 1,131 letters Eliot wrote to Hale, leading biographer Lyndall Gordon reveals a hidden Eliot. Emily Hale now becomes the first and consistently important woman of life -- and his art. Gordon also offers new insight into the other spirited women who shaped him: Vivienne, the flamboyant wife with whom he shared a private wasteland; Mary Trevelyan, his companion in prayer; and Valerie Fletcher, the young disciple to whom he proposed when his relationship with Emily foundered. Eliot kept his women apart as each ignited his transformations as poet, expatriate, convert, and, finally, in his latte.

Weight: 828g
Dimension: 164 x 244 x 46 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780349012117