West's World

Born Cicely Fairfield in 1892, Rebecca West was a young woman and a budding actress when she changed her name to that of the feminist heroine in Ibsen's play Rosmersholm. West became a towering figure in the British literary landscape, best known for such works as Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, A Train of Powder, and her "Aubrey trilogy" of autobiographical novels. She was a passionate suffragist and a socialist, and her long career as a writer began when she was barely out of her teens-as did her notorious affair with H.G. Wells, which resulted in a son, Anthony, whose relationship with his mother was stormy at best. Lorna Gibb, also the biographer of Lady Hester Stanhope, explores the relationships in West's life, offering a vivid and insightful look at the woman behind the reputation.