All Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby wanted was to live together and devote their lives to each other, so in 1778 they ran away from their aristocratic homes in Ireland to settle in Llangollen, Wales, to devote themselves to delicious seclusion and romantic friendship.
Elizabeth Mavor Livres
An intrepid exploration of gender, female sexuality and passion: romantic, carnal, and cerebral. This brilliant novel, long out of print, was shortlisted for the 1973 Booker Prize.
Eleanor Butler's family wanted her to enter a convent, while Sarah Ponsonby was trying to escape her guardian's unwanted attention. In 1778, both women fled their aristocratic homes in Ireland to settle in Llangollen, Wales, seeking a life devoted to each other in 'delicious seclusion' and 'romantic friendship.' Their choice came with challenges: disowned by their families and unaccustomed to hardship, they soon found themselves in debt. Nevertheless, they transformed their cottage, Plas Newydd, into a Gothic haven, complete with a library and gardens, while engaging in genteel farming and a rigorous self-improvement regimen. Their desire for privacy was complicated by their growing celebrity, attracting notable figures from literary and political circles who sought their company and admired their accomplishments. The Ladies lived into old age, devoted to one another, becoming local legends. Elizabeth Mavor vividly portrays Eleanor's forceful personality and Sarah's quiet assertiveness, examining their intimate relationship and the concept of 'romantic friendship' in the eighteenth century. The narrative humorously explores their tumultuous interactions with family, friends, and society, highlighting the unique world they created together.
Lady Eleanor Butler war 29 Jahre alt, als sie die 13jährige Sarah Ponsonby zum ersten Mal sah. - Zehn Jahre später, im Jahr 1778, brannten die beiden miteinander durch, ein Skandal! Nach schrecklichen Szenen mit ihren Familien flohen Eleanor und Sarah nach Wales und lebten dort fortan in einem idyllischen Cottage. Elizabeth Mavors Biographie gibt faszinierende Einblicke in die englische Welt vor hundert Jahren und schildert eine Liebe, die mehr als fünfzig Jahre überdauerte. Mit einem Nachwort von Petra Hassenpflug.