Rebecca West

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Rebecca West rose to fame early (before the First World War) through her witty, acerbic journalism. In addition to numerous essays and reviews, she wrote about a dozen novels, short stories, political analyses, a classic travel book, and works of literary criticism. Her journalism remains an important commentary on the contemporary women's movement, offering both strong intellectual support and trenchant satire. She is known for her pungency of phrase; on occasion she was more eager for a phrase to strike shockingly home than for it to withstand criticism.
  • BirthName: Cicily Isabel Fairfield
    RW was christened Cicely, but later adopted the spelling Cicily.
    Glendinning, Victoria. Rebecca West. Alfred Knopf, 1987.
    16
    Rollyson, Carl. Rebecca West: A Saga of the Century. Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.
    6

  • Nicknames: Cissie
    This was a family nickname.
    Glendinning, Victoria. Rebecca West. Alfred Knopf, 1987.
    9
    ; Anne
    In her childhood, RW 's sisters called her Anne, an abbreviation of Anne Telloppy, her childish pronunciation of antelope.
    Rollyson, Carl. Rebecca West: A Saga of the Century. Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.
    6
    ; Panther
    This was H. G. Wells 's pet name for RW , who called him Jaguar.
    ; Rac
    RW and her husband Henry Andrews affectionately called each other Ric and Rac, the names of two dogs in a French comic strip: she was Rac.
    Rollyson, Carl. Rebecca West: A Saga of the Century. Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.
    123

  • Married: Andrews
  • Pseudonyms: Isabel Lancashire
    RW never published under this name, but she wrote it on at least one manuscript.
    ; Rebecca West
    Rebecca West was the strong-minded heroine in Ibsen 's play Rosmersholm. Cicily Fairfield took the name as her own when she began her publishing career, wishing to avoid her mother's displeasure at her association with the militant feminism of The Freewoman.
    Rollyson, Carl. Rebecca West: A Saga of the Century. Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.
    18-19

Black and white, head-and-shoulders photograph of Rebecca West looking straight forward, wearing a checked jacket with dark cuffs and collar and white flowers pinned at the neckline. With one hand she touches a chunky metal necklace. Her wavy, greying hair, jaw-length, is pushed behind her ears.

Milestones

21 December 1892

Cicily Isabel Fairfield (later RW ) was born in London.
Rollyson, Carl. Rebecca West: A Saga of the Century. Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.
6

20 October 1941

RW published Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, her famous travel book about the Balkans.
Hutchinson, G. Evelyn. A Preliminary List of the Writings of Rebecca West, 1912-1951. Yale University Library, 1957.
12-13

February 1982

RW published 1900, an informal historical account of the year, emphasising politics and the arts.
British Books in Print. J. Whitaker and Sons, 1874–1987.
1982
West, Rebecca. 1900. Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1982, http://UofA.

15 March 1983

RW died of pneumonia at her home, 48 Kingston House North, at the edge of Hyde Park, at the age of ninety.
Hammond, John Richard. H. G. Wells and Rebecca West. Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1991.
240
Rollyson, Carl. Rebecca West: A Saga of the Century. Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.
321, 375
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

Biography

Birth and Family

21 December 1892

Cicily Isabel Fairfield (later RW ) was born in London.
Rollyson, Carl. Rebecca West: A Saga of the Century. Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.
6

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