Susan Tweedsmuir

01 June 1882 - 21 March 1977

Standard Name: Tweedsmuir, Susan

Birth Name: Susan Charlotte Grosvenor

Nickname: Susie

Married Name: Susan Charlotte Buchan

Titled: Susan Charlotte Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir

Pseudonym: Harmonia

ST , still Susan Buchan and married to a more famous author, John Buchan , began publishing in collaboration with him. From their joint novel, published just after the First World War, she continued on her own to biography, books for children, and plays, then to a novel of her own. As a widow she authored a travel book, edited unpublished work by her husband, returned to novel-writing, and found her niche (since much of her work is dominated by recovery of the past) with three volumes of slight and apparently haphazard (but charming) memoirs that took the form of retrospective essays.

Full profile

Connections

Connections Sort ascending	Author name	Excerpt
Travel	Angela Thirkell	After staying with John Buchan and Susan Tweedsmuir in Ottawa, AT visited Quebec and Montreal for a few days with her son Graham McInnes , who had settled in Canada and taken Canadian citizenship. Strickland, Margot. Angela Thirkell: Portrait of a Lady Novelist. Duckworth. 114-15
Textual Production	John Buchan	Some of JB 's best-known later novels are Huntingtower, 1922 (which introduces the contemporary Glaswegian character Dickson McCunn), Midwinter, 1923 (historical), The Three Hostages, 1924 (another thriller), Witch Wood, 1927 (his...
Textual Production	Catherine Carswell	At the time of her death, CC was researching a biography of Calvin and had been engaged to help Susan Tweedsmuir on the sorting of John Buchan 's papers. Carswell's work on the papers formed...
Reception	Elizabeth von Arnim	Semi-fictional diaries by Elizabeth became the hallmark of the books with which she followed this one in series, including The Solitary Summer (1899), April Baby's Book of Tunes (1900), and Adventures of Elizabeth in Rugen...
Author summary	Catherine Carswell	CC is best known for her 1920 novel, Open the Door!, and her insightful critical biography of her close friend D. H. Lawrence . Her literary corpus consists of two novels, three biographies, and...
Occupation	Henri-Frédéric Amiel	He became a philosopher and a professor of aesthetics, and published a number of books including a study of Germaine de Staël . His best known work, however, was his diary. It exerted an influence...
Occupation	Ann Bridge	Since, however, writing seemed unlikely to yield her a livelihood, she went immediately to work as assistant secretary for the Charity Organization Society , Chelsea branch. This paid her twenty-three shillings a week, with hours...
Occupation	Florence Farr	Susan Grosvenor (later Tweedsmuir), who saw this production, was at first frankly bewildered by the chorus, which was like nothing she had ever seen or heard. But, she wrote later, soon the splendid poetry opened...
Literary responses	Marie Belloc Lowndes	MBL feared her brother would dislike this book because of his unworldliness, his unawareness of his own fame, and his remoteness from contemporary reality. With the public, however, it was an immediate success, and sold...
Literary responses	Elizabeth von Arnim	Though Fräulein Schmidt and Mr. Anstruther was not an especial favourite of reviewers, the Evening News credited it with an insight into life which makes the author one of the finest, if not the finest...
Literary responses	Angela Thirkell	Susan Tweedsmuir much admired The Demon in the House when she first read it, and sent AT a copy of her recent children's book, Arabella, in return. Strickland, Margot. Angela Thirkell: Portrait of a Lady Novelist. Duckworth. 83
Literary responses	Rhoda Broughton	Susan Tweedsmuir later recommended A Waif's Progress as having an irony and outspokenness absent fromRB 's other books, and felt it must have shocked and surprised her public. Tweedsmuir, Susan. The Edwardian Lady. G. Duckworth. 48
Literary responses	Mary Webb	Susan Tweedsmuir later wrote that Gone to Earth had opened a new door to me, Tweedsmuir, Susan. A Winter Bouquet. G. Duckworth. 110 while her husband, John Buchan , wrote of one passage: If this is not magic I do not know...
Literary responses	Martin Ross	Reviews were excellent. Susan Tweedsmuir later recorded that it took her the shortest possible time to fall under the spell of Somerville and Ross, and that she remained entranced by their edged style and explosive...
Literary responses	Catherine Carswell	Susan Tweedsmuir said CC was not only hard-working but also had a genius for editorial work. Pilditch, Jan. Catherine Carswell. A Biography. John Donald. 169

Timeline

Autumn 1904 to summer 1907

Under the management of playwright and director Harley Granville-Barker and business manager J. E. Vedrenne , the Court Theatre became the first permanent home of the new drama.

1908

Crossriggs, a homely and unpretentious novel by Mary and Jane Helen Findlater , was, said Susan Tweedsmuir years later, one of those books that make a milestone in one's life.

1911

Flemington, a historicalnovel by Scottish poet and fiction-writer Violet Jacob (1863-1946), drew a long letter of praise from John Buchan .

Texts

Tweedsmuir, Susan. A Winter Bouquet. G. Duckworth, 1954.

Tweedsmuir, Susan. Cousin Harriet. G. Duckworth, 1957.

Tweedsmuir, Susan. Funeral March of a Marionette. Hogarth Press, 1935.

Tweedsmuir, Susan, and George Macaulay Trevelyan. John Buchan. Hodder and Stoughton, 1947.

Tweedsmuir, Susan. Lady Louisa Stuart. Hodder and Stoughton, 1932.

Tweedsmuir, Susan. The Edwardian Lady. G. Duckworth, 1966.

Tweedsmuir, Susan. The Lilac and the Rose. G. Duckworth, 1952.

Tweedsmuir, Susan. The Rainbow through the Rain. Hodder and Stoughton, 1950.

Tweedsmuir, Susan. The Scent of Water. Hodder and Stoughton, 1937.

Tweedsmuir, Susan. The Sword of State. Hodder and Stoughton, 1928.