Robert Graves: From Great War Poet to Good-bye to All That (1895-1929)
These days, Robert Graves is known primarily as the writer of the books that became the mega-hit TV series I, Claudius. But in his own time – especially in the early days of the 20th century – Robert Graves was highly thought of as a poet. Wilson’s splendidly researched, highly detailed biography reveals Graves, his life, and his poetry in almost too much detail. But even as the book stretches, covering only Graves’s life from 1895 to 1929, it remains fascinating. Born into reasonable privilege, the Great War drove a trench through his life (as it did Europe), and he was never quite the same after. With exquisite detail, his ramshackle, would-be-bohemian life is revealed. An early marriage to an artist, four children, no money, friendships with people like Sassoon and T. E. Lawrence, poetry barely covering the bills – all this against the backdrop of the sweeping change in the post war world. But even the 1920s were barely able to cope with the advent in Graves’ life of Linda Riding, the American woman who would be his muse for a decade, shattering his marriage and his friendships in the process.
Erudite and rather like reading a very High Tea, and recommended whether you’ve read anything by Graves or not (or seen I, Claudius – and boy, I can now see a sort of role model for Livia in Linda Riding!).
