katepolka's review
5.0
I absolutely loved this novel by imagist poet H.D. it’s a Roman a clef of the time she lived in Bloomsbury, London during WW1, when she was married to Richard Aldington. H.D. had had a miscarriage and her husband was having an affair, so she was in a very vulnerable state. Then in walk DH and Frieda Lawrence. I loved the writing style - poetic, full of imagery as you’d expect, so claustrophobic in the London rooms and then free when she moves away to Cornwall. An honest and emotional portrayal of her feelings about free love. The novel about her life before this is called Her - I don’t know why they are both out of print because they’re brilliant.
lokster71's review
4.0
'Bid Me To Live' is a roman à clef, although H.D's (Hilda Doolittle) daughter, Perdita Schaffner, said that it was: "a roman à clef only technically. The names have been changed. Otherwise it is straight autobiography, a word-for-word transcript." (Quoted on page xv of the introduction by Caroline Zilboorg.)
The story is that of Julia Ashton (who is H.D. herself), World War One and the end of her marriage to Rafe Ashton (who is Richard Aldington, a writer probably best known now for his post-World War One novel, 'Death of a Hero' - of which more later.) It's a novel that tells the story of how war affected women at home and how their husbands changed, but it is also the story of a woman suffering from her own wounds growing towards independence.
It is also about people who are involved in the arts. Julia is a writer, so is Rafe. They hang out with writers - D.H. Lawrence, Ezra Pound, John Cournos are all here (amongst others) in fictional form. It is packed full of references that thankfully this edition helps you to understand.
It's well-worth reading because a lot of the stories of World War One are men's stories. This would make an interesting companion piece to Vera Brittain's 'Testament of Youth' (although both stories are about the reasonably well off even if one of them is more 'bohemian' than the other.) Apparently, despite never having heard of H.D. it is interesting to discover that she and Aldington crop up in lots of fiction of the period - D.H Lawrence's 'Aaron's Rod' for example - and, of course, there is Aldington's own roman à clef 'Death of a Hero'.
Someone somewhere should publish a joint edition of 'Bid Me To Live' and 'Death of a Hero' as the latter helps fill in some of the gaps of the former.
This isn't an easy book to read but it is worthwhile. The final chapter in particular where Julia justifies (and discovers?) her own artistic 'soul' is brilliant.
The story is that of Julia Ashton (who is H.D. herself), World War One and the end of her marriage to Rafe Ashton (who is Richard Aldington, a writer probably best known now for his post-World War One novel, 'Death of a Hero' - of which more later.) It's a novel that tells the story of how war affected women at home and how their husbands changed, but it is also the story of a woman suffering from her own wounds growing towards independence.
It is also about people who are involved in the arts. Julia is a writer, so is Rafe. They hang out with writers - D.H. Lawrence, Ezra Pound, John Cournos are all here (amongst others) in fictional form. It is packed full of references that thankfully this edition helps you to understand.
It's well-worth reading because a lot of the stories of World War One are men's stories. This would make an interesting companion piece to Vera Brittain's 'Testament of Youth' (although both stories are about the reasonably well off even if one of them is more 'bohemian' than the other.) Apparently, despite never having heard of H.D. it is interesting to discover that she and Aldington crop up in lots of fiction of the period - D.H Lawrence's 'Aaron's Rod' for example - and, of course, there is Aldington's own roman à clef 'Death of a Hero'.
Someone somewhere should publish a joint edition of 'Bid Me To Live' and 'Death of a Hero' as the latter helps fill in some of the gaps of the former.
This isn't an easy book to read but it is worthwhile. The final chapter in particular where Julia justifies (and discovers?) her own artistic 'soul' is brilliant.
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