Rose Macaulay

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RM was highly prolific, publishing during the earlier half of the twentieth century twenty-three novels and two volumes of poetry, as well as three books of short stories, several historical and travel narratives, and works of literary criticism. Several volumes of her personal letters have been printed. She made many appearances on the BBC and published scores of articles. Valued perhaps chiefly for its satire and wit, her writing shows impressive political complexity and understanding, and her skill at characterisation is noteworthy. In her early works one may feel that her satire is defensive: that she uses mockery to hold off painful involvement. Her treatment of religious issues and characters demonstrates her long struggle with and engagement in established religion. She continually pokes fun at people heavily invested in causes or movements; but the choice of a cause is one of her favourite topics, sometimes handled with poignancy rather than burlesque.
Photograph of a roughly drawn sketch of Rose Macaulay, depicted from the shoulders up. She is wearing a simple dress and her hair is cut short.
"Rose Macaulay" Retrieved from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Rose_macaulay.jpg. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported.

Milestones

1 August 1881
RM was born at Rugby, Warwickshire.
Emery, Jane. Rose Macaulay: A Writer’s Life. John Murray, 1991.
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Bensen, Alice. Rose Macaulay. Twayne, 1969.
chronology
December 1906
RM , still a girl at home, published her first novel, Abbots Verney.
Babington Smith, Constance. Rose Macaulay. Collins, 1972.
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September 1956
RM published her twenty-third and final novel, The Towers of Trebizond.
Bensen, Alice. Rose Macaulay. Twayne, 1969.
154
Babington Smith, Constance. Rose Macaulay. Collins, 1972.
203
30 October 1958
RM died unexpectedly at home (Hinde House in Hinde Street, London), at the age of seventy-seven, of a heart attack.
Emery, Jane. Rose Macaulay: A Writer’s Life. John Murray, 1991.
1
Lefanu, Sarah. Rose Macaulay. Virago, 2003.
opposite 263

Biography

As a schoolgirl she was, for some years, called Emily.
Babington Smith, Constance. Rose Macaulay. Collins, 1972.
14

Birth and Background