Category: Autobiography & Biography

Posts on the rosemarysutcliff.com weblog about the life and thoughts of Rosemary Sutcliff, including what she wrote and said about writing and her own craft.

Modern Times are a Hindrance | Rosemary Sutcliff on Writing Historical Fiction

Anthony Lawton1 Comment

Sadly stuck behind their pay-wall are The Times Archives. In January 1983, within a long interview by Caroline Moorehead, Rosemary Sutcliff said of actually visiting battle sites:

“Modem times are a hindrance. The natural features of the land have been lost.”

Mind you, such research trips would anyway always have been a major project for her, given her severe physical disabilities. Some other quotes from Rosemary Sutcliff from the article are:

On writing her memoirs Blue Remembered Hills:

l happened to have a winter free. I was in between books. And being an only child, with far older cousins, who else is there to remember? And it was a happy childhood.

On periods of history she avoided:

I can’t get inside the medieval skin. I find the complete permeation of religious life too much for a free-thinker like myself, and beyond the eighteenth century is too cloak and dagger for my taste.

On when she wrote:

I hit that sudden post-war flowering of children’s literature and the golden age of –  the Oxford University Press.

On her rocking horse, Troubador:

About 15 years ago I decided that I was old enough, ugly enough, and successful enough, to indulge my eccentricities.

One of Rosemary Sutcliff's eccentricities | Her rocking horse Troubador
One of Rosemary Sutcliff’s eccentricities was supporting a rocking-horse maker (who went bust!)

Rosemary Sutcliff invited me into her home for one of the most amazing afternoons of my life

Anthony Lawton1 Comment

Lovely post over at the Rosemary Sutcliff Facebook page from Canadian elementary school principal Laurel Piper The:

My favourite teacher … introduced me to Rosemary’s books when I was in grade 7 or 8 after which I read every one I could find. I wrote to her and sent her some of my awful adolescent poetry and to my complete delight and astonishment, she wrote back. We corresponded until 1979 when I travelled to England and looked for her home in Arundel, Sussex. Her home had no number but was simply called Swallowshaw. After asking many people, I finally got directions and landed on her front door. When she opened the door she exclaimed, “My Canadian friend!”

She invited me into her home (with my mom, sister and aunt in tow) and for one of the most amazing afternoons of my life, engaged in conversation with me about her books. The two of us talked as though we were the only ones on the planet. When it was time to leave she told me to choose a book from her shelf. I chose Sword at Sunset which she autographed for me. This generous lady was so gracious. I didn’t know her arthritis was so horrible. She stood for our entire visit. She wrote her books by hand on a big draftsman’s table on huge sheets of paper. Her fingers were quite gnarled which made me feel humble to think she had corresponded with me in her own handwriting, knowing what it must have cost her to do so. A very strong, intelligent, creative, generous, wonderful lady.

Discovery Flowering Dagger | A short-story by Rosemary Sutcliff discovered by someone appreciating her

Anthony Lawton1 Comment

On exploring Google Book Search a while back, bloggers and Rosemary Sutcliff fans Sandra Garside-Neville and Sarah Cuthbertson posted that they had:

…  found a Rosemary Sutcliff short story that was new to me. It’s called Flowering Dagger and is in a collection called ‘Within the Hollow Hills: an anthology of new Celtic writing’, edited by John Matthews, published 2000 by Steiner Books. A few sample pages can be found here. It was originally published in ‘The Real Thing’, edited by Peggy Woodford, Bodley Head, 1977. Other contributors include: Robin Williamson, R.J. Stewart, Caitlin Matthews, David Spangler, Peter Vansittart, Henry Treece and Margaret Elphinstone, plus others.

via Rosemary Sutcliff: an appreciation: November 2006