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maplessence's review against another edition
5.0
A well written & absorbing account of the tragically short life of New Zealand's greatest writer.
A complex person who was unhappy growing up in New Zealand,yet longed for it when she was away. A sexually free woman who ended up married to a coward. In this book her second husband Murry comes in for a fair bit of criticism. In fairness, Katherine would never have been an easy person to live with and she wrote some pretty brutal letters to him. I think it's sad her wealthy father also didn't appreciate KM's genius. Meyer writes;
Harsh words indeed. KM would have always been an embarrassment in the conventional New Zealand of the time.
I'm a New Zealander and I did wonder why I didn't get to study Mansfield at school in the 1970s. I guess she was considered too riské for our pure young minds! My Form 2 teacher read our class The Doll's House but that was all. Murry certainly did his best to deify Katherine, but I don't think he was successful!
Highly recommended.
A complex person who was unhappy growing up in New Zealand,yet longed for it when she was away. A sexually free woman who ended up married to a coward. In this book her second husband Murry comes in for a fair bit of criticism. In fairness, Katherine would never have been an easy person to live with and she wrote some pretty brutal letters to him. I think it's sad her wealthy father also didn't appreciate KM's genius. Meyer writes;
In February 1923, just after Harold was knighted for financial services to New Zealand,he gave £6000 (over twice the total amount he had given Katherine) to help establish a National Gallery of Art in Wellington. If Harold had been a true patron of the arts and shown the same generosity to his daughter as he had to his city, he could easily have eliminated her constant anxiety about money, improved her health and even prolonged her life.
Harsh words indeed. KM would have always been an embarrassment in the conventional New Zealand of the time.
I'm a New Zealander and I did wonder why I didn't get to study Mansfield at school in the 1970s. I guess she was considered too riské for our pure young minds! My Form 2 teacher read our class The Doll's House but that was all. Murry certainly did his best to deify Katherine, but I don't think he was successful!
Highly recommended.
bookcrazylady45's review against another edition
3.0
Waver between awe and frustration and then amazement at how her life finally ended. Disgust for her husband, pity for her friend. A painful biography.
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