The Shadowy Third

This is a fascinating and well-researched biography of the author Elizabeth Bowen's personal life. The author, who is a writer and teacher of literature, is the granddaughter of a primary paramour of Elizabeth Bowen. In recent years, a favorite uncle who had inherited letters between the grandfather and Bowen left them in a bedroom closet, perhaps thinking they would be of little interest to anyone. Or to keep the family secrets hidden for a bit longer. The author uses these inherited letters to give a timeline of Bowen's writing as linked with her personal relationships. Since Bowen and her husband had a platonic marriage (apparently his wish), she began a lifelong series of long affairs with various (almost always married) men. Parry's grandfather, Humphry (sic) House, was the first of these, and he continued the relationship long after he was married. His wife Madeline became aware of the affair and was deeply pained by it. Another theme in this book besides Bowen's relationships is the importance to her of her Irish heritage and family manor house cum estate in County Cork. It is at Bowen's Court as well as in London and Oxford that Bowen socialized with the most gifted and prominent of Britain's writers of the 1920s through the 1960s. I highly recommend this book for its delightful writing and for the author's tales of revisiting all the homes where Bowen lived as well as the House family. Parry deepens her knowledge of Bowen and her own grandparents through meetings with their surviving acquaintances and descendants. I learned a great deal about how Elizabeth Bowen created her large body of work through the inspiration of her personal life and world events particularly the world wars.

Dusty old love letters harbour many secrets and historical elements...how glad I am that letters were de rigueur up until recently! Julia Parry, the author of this amazing book, inherited letters written by her brilliant-minded grandfather, Humphry House, and Elizabeth Bowen, author and socialite, as well as some penned by the longsuffering yet spirited woman Humphry marries. All three were born in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, very different people with incredible stories. This book reveals many aspects of their lives as well as that of Bowen's husband through letters and photographs. Not only that but the author seamlessly details her physical and mental journey in tracing the lives of her grandfather and aunts through travels of her own which took her to some of their homes (and more) on three continents.

Humphry and Elizabeth had an immediate intellectual connection which eventually grew into love. However, Elizabeth was married (though their marriage was not consummated) and Humphry also marries. Naturally, resentment builds to a crescendo and lessens as these (and other) relationships wax and wane. The author includes many of the letters which go back and forth with wonderful descriptions and insight into personalities. I've read several of Bowen's incredible books and can definitely see her in both her books and letters. As people they had their flaws, some more striking than others. But it is fascinating to read about what drives people to make the choices they do.

All you need to enjoy this book is curiosity and the desire to learn more about people. The author's personal quest is thrilling as secret after secret, story after story, is unraveled. Thank goodness these letters and the willingness of the author to share them exist!

My sincere thank you to Duckworth Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this remarkable book in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated.

After reading "The death of the heart"and her Collected short storiesj recently, I was thrilled to discover an intimate portrait of Elizabeth Bowen through Julia Parry's masterful publication. It's a must for anyone familiar with this great 20th century English novelist. Poignant but at same time tactful, The shadowy third offers us an emotional & intimate portrait written with delicacy and much sympathy.

Many thanks to netgalley & the editor for allowing me to read this wonderful biography.

An interesting book about the renowned novelist Elizabeth Bowen mainly constructed around letters subsequently discovered by the author's family. The author is not directly related to Elizabeth but her grandfather (Humphry House) was one of Elizabeth's lovers and due to this relationship a lot of the book follows his career and also that of his wife Madeline. Elizabeth's own unconsummated marriage was the backbone of her various affairs and despite these liaisons kept them apart from her husband.

I did, however, find the book wandered somewhat particularly in the 1930s where it seemed to keep going back to plus it had more of Humphry's background but given the author's connection this is not surprising. Interesting social observations along the way although little in Elizabeth's later life as Julia's grandfather had already died.

As a fan of Elizabeth Bowen’s I was delighted to get a glimpse of the real woman behind her literature.This is a wionderful look at the real woman sharing her life discovered through her letters but still keeping her privacy.I really enjoyed this well written book,#netgalley #the shadowythird.

I have long been a lover of Elizabeth Bowen’s writing and so I was excited to come across this memoir. It came about when Julia Parry’s uncle died and she inherited a box of letters; correspondence between her grandfather, Humphry House and Bowen. Anyone familiar with the life of Elizabeth Bowen, will know that her marriage to Alan Cameron provided security, rather than romance and, throughout her life, Bowen had many marital affairs, including with Charles Ritchie, which is well documented in the book, “Love’s Civil War: Elizabeth Bowen and Charles Ritchie: Letters and Diaries 1941-1973,” by Victoria Glendinning and Judith Robertson. Glendinning also wrote a biography of Bowen, shortly after her death, and we get some interesting glimpses into why so much of what was mentioned about Bowen’s early affair with Humphry House was only hinted at, as Parry discusses her grandmother, Madeline’s, interview with the biographer.

As such, it is fascinating to read of this early affair with Humphry House and the triangle between Bowen, Humphry and Madeline. Although Parry obviously struggles with her conscience at times and is eager to present her grandfather as a more sympathetic character than modern sensibilities make him, she does a good job of being fair to all of those involved and allowing her grandmother to step out of the shadows.

Elizabeth met Humphry at a dinner in Oxford in 1933. By the early 1930’s, Elizabeth was established in the literary world, living in Oxford and enjoying the intellectual company of admiring young men – Humphry was nine years younger than Elizabeth, and obviously impressed at meeting a ‘writer.’ At the time he had already met, and proposed to, Madeline Church, but was having a crisis of faith and career and embarked on an affair with the older, glamorous Elizabeth.

Obviously, you will want to read this yourself and so I do not wish to give details of their relationship and how it affected his marriage with Madeline, but some of this does make uncomfortable reading. Humphry was a young man who, frankly, felt that marriage vows were more for women than for me – although this could obviously be pushed aside where Elizabeth was concerned. In other words, he saw things in view of how they could best suit him and Madeline was often under-valued by both her husband and Elizabeth. Much of this, in Elizabeth’s case, was probably due to jealousy. Both Humphry, and later, Charles Ritchie, married and Elizabeth’s childlessness was a matter of sorrow to her. Meanwhile, Humphry could be insensitive and tried to force the two women into an acquaintance which was probably unwelcome on both sides.

Although Parry was close to her subjects, which did not always leave to objectivity, I really enjoyed this. She follows her grandfather’s path, from Oxford to Exeter (educating the daughters of plumbers, in his words), to India and back to Oxford. Along the way, all three of those involved interact, intersect, struggle and push for dominance. There is also an interesting social history involved. As we see with Humphry’s somewhat snobbish reaction to the new universities, and social change, we also witness the growing political crisis in Europe and the reaction to it. Although Elizabeth Bowen was not overly involved, feeling readers wished for entertainment, rather than politics and stating, “younger writers claimed that the novel should serve serious purposes; in particular, they meant that the novel should be wrested from the hands of women,” which is a political statement in itself.

Times change, and so do tastes, and Parry documents the lives of all involved as Elizabeth made new relationships, found herself a little out of fashion as new writers emerged, and her affair with Humphry ended. I found this a really fascinating look at their relationship and was most sympathetic to, and impressed with, Madeline’s strength and determination, her under-valued intelligence and self-reliance, as well as more understanding of Humphry, making allowances for his background, and the times, and grateful to have learnt more about Elizabeth Bowen. Both Bowen and Humphrey had personal faults, but I was delighted that the author shared this new knowledge about their relationship, about her grandmother and to possible links to her novels and fictional characters. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

A compelling, well-researched and well-written biography/memoir of the relationship between Irish writer Elizabeth Bowen and academic Humphry House – the author’s grandfather. On the death of an uncle, Julia Parry inherited a treasure trove of previously unpublished letters between Bowen and House, and used them as a starting block to delve deeper into what happened. In spite of the author’s family involvement and loyalty, the book remains nuanced and balanced, and is non-judgemental – although Humphry House’s sometimes cruel behaviour towards his wife will certainly evoke censure from many readers. All in all, a fascinating read, certainly for Bowen fans, but also for anyone interested in the literary milieu in which she moved.