Desperate Romantics: The Private Lives of the Pre-Raphaelites - Brossura

Moyle, Franny

Brossura

ISBN 10: 1848540507 ISBN 13: 9781848540507

Casa editrice: John Murray Pubs Ltd, 2009

Riassunto

Their Bohemian lifestyle and intertwined love affairs shockingly broke 19th Century class barriers and bent the rules that governed the roles of the sexes. They became defined by love triangles, played out against the austere moral climate of Victorian England; they outraged their contemporaries with their loves, jealousies and betrayals, and they stunned society when their complex moral choices led to madness and suicide, or when their permissive experiments ended in addiction and death. The characters are huge and vivid and remain as compelling today as they were in their own time.

The influential critic, writer and artist John Ruskin was their father figure and his apostles included the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the designer William Morris. They drew extraordinary women into their circle. In a move intended to raise eyebrows for its social audacity, they recruited the most ravishing models they could find from the gutters of Victorian slums.

The saga is brought to life through the vivid letters and diaries kept by the group and the accounts written by their contemporaries. These real-lie stories shed new light on the greatest nineteenth-century British art.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

'A hectic tale, packed with sex and dark drama...not so much an extension but an explosion and an echo of today's celebrity culture' (West End Extra, Gerald Isaaman)

'Desperate Romantics is a gripping read and far more than a historical biography. It's like reading a modern-day soap opera. Franny Moyle writes as if she'd been transported from 1848 to the present day to report on their fascinating lives' (Now, Clare Nasir)

'Riveting . . . Moyle captures vividly the texture and colour of this vital world' (Independent on Sunday)

'The jauntiness of her approach is a refreshing antidote to the incestuous, dreamlike claustrophobia of these interlocking lives. Her book is powerful, absorbing and, well, rather jolly' (Sunday Times)

'Read about the truth behind John and Effie Ruskin's unconsummated marriage . . . and a host of other seemingly respectable 'Blue Plaque' names who lived their lives at a pace that would leave Damien Hirst and Jake and Dinos Chapman breathless' (The Resident)

'Moyle's book captures all the sex, madness and addiction, making modern-day sagas seem downright dull!' (Glamour)

'This has been well-covered before but she retells it with exceptional vigour and with fine detail culled from original sources' (Daily Express)

The book is packed with colourful illustrations and drawings, while the words are pretty darned colourful too' (Birmingham Post)

'Moyle tells the story with great verve, and the forthcoming drama based on her book should be one to look out for' (Choice)

'Solidly researched book . . . Desperate Romantics is a cleanly written and evocative work that concentrates not only on the PRB as a group, but as individual geniuses' (Sunday Herald Magazine)

Descrizione del libro:

In conjunction with a major series for BBC2, the scandalous saga of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: John Murray Pubs Ltd
• Data di pubblicazione: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1848540507
• ISBN 13: 9781848540507
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 418