Shadow Lovers UK Edition: The Last Affairs Of H.g.wells

by Andrea Lynn

Overview

Nearing 70, and in what would be the last decade of his life, H.G. Wells fell in love at least three times - once with the much younger Baroness Budberg, and soon thereafter with two well-born Americans, Constance Coolidge and Martha Gelhorn, 25 and 40 years his junior respectively. These would constitute what Wells himself described as his "last flounderings towards the wife idea", and demonstrate in many ways that Wells was driven less by his considerable intelligence than by his obsession to find his ideal lover - what he called his "lover-shadow". This study looks at this very personal side of H.G. Wells. The self-proclaimed Don Juan was said to have "radiated" energy: intellectual, emotional, physical and sexual. Drawing on papers made public by the Wells estate, the author documents Wells' relationship with each of these femme fatales and paints a vivid portrait of the early part of the 20th century in London, Paris and the US.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367302627
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/17/2021
Pages:	576
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xxv

1 Secret Places of the Heart: HG in Love and in His Postscript 1

2 The Anatomy of Frustration: HG's Birth and Rebirths 33

3 The Undying Fire: HG and Moura Budberg, 1920, 1932-1946 105

4 Star Begotten: HG and Constance Coolidge, 1935-1937 213

5 The Passionate Friends: HG and Martha Gellhorn, 1935 329

6 Epilogue: Beyond the Shadow of Love 441

Notes 455

Chapter Notes 459

Sources 501

Bibliography 505

Permissions 513

Index 515

What People are Saying About This

Patrick Parrinder

Meticulously researched, engagingly written, and generous in spirit...I enjoyed this book enormously.
— Patrick Parrinder, University of Reading, England

Editorial Reviews

Employing both unpublished sources and a sprightly prose style, Andrea Lynn provides us with revealing new insights into H. G. Wells, his world, and the lives of the women he loved during his later years.

Walter L. Arnstein

Andrea Lynn has seized the challenge to weave all of the various aspects of H. G. Well's life together-Wells the teacher, author, war correspondent, scientist, essayist, short story writer, political philosopher, and now, Wells the feminist and lover. The result is this marvelous book, which brings us face to face with an extraordinary figure.

David C. Smith

Lifts the lid on a treasure trove of unpublished material about . . . Herbert George Wells.

Daily Express

Unlike many previous biographers, Andrea Lynn is admirably even-handed, making a convincing case for her claim that 'in these relationships there were no victims.' Lively style and a well-paced narrative make this book an entertaining and enjoyable read.

Sylvia Hardy

..makes for fascinating reading and intimate insight into some of the more interesting personalities of the time.

Boston Globe

Shadow Lovers..contains a great number of juicy anecdotes and all manner of spicy and piquant stuff.

Washington Times

Although H.G. Wells (1866-1946) was possibly the first and certainly one of the greatest science fiction writers in history, anyone seeking evidence of his literary labors will not find it in this volume. Instead, journalist Lynn invites readers to consider Wells as a romantic figure who happened also to be a man of letters a sort of 20th-century Byron. Quite unlike Byron, however, Wells is described as a "fat and homely, short and stocky man with [a] peculiarly high-pitched voice." Add to this the fact that the book only discusses Wells's conquests when he was between the ages of 66 and 70, and readers might reasonably expect Lynn's account to fall a few laces short of a bodice-ripper. But she is a gifted storyteller, and she somehow manages to capture the unaccountable charisma that made Wells (as he termed himself) a "Don Juan of the Intelligentsia." A world of international intrigue revolved around each of the three remarkable women (Baroness Moura Budberg, Constance Coolidge and the redoubtable Martha Gellhorn) Wells pursued in his later years, and Lynn, drawing on previously unpublished letters, tells their tales with great relish and considerable style. But with its limited focus, its tabloid intricacies and minutely rendered comings and goings, her book is likely to capture the attention only of true Wells devotees. The rest of the nation's readers can wait and hope that Lynn's keen eye will soon turn with equal gusto to a more broadly appealing subject. (Feb.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Although H.G. Wells (1866-1946) was possibly the first and certainly one of the greatest science fiction writers in history, anyone seeking evidence of his literary labors will not find it in this volume. Instead, journalist Lynn invites readers to consider Wells as a romantic figure who happened also to be a man of letters a sort of 20th-century Byron. Quite unlike Byron, however, Wells is described as a "fat and homely, short and stocky man with [a] peculiarly high-pitched voice." Add to this the fact that the book only discusses Wells's conquests when he was between the ages of 66 and 70, and readers might reasonably expect Lynn's account to fall a few laces short of a bodice-ripper. But she is a gifted storyteller, and she somehow manages to capture the unaccountable charisma that made Wells (as he termed himself) a "Don Juan of the Intelligentsia." A world of international intrigue revolved around each of the three remarkable women (Baroness Moura Budberg, Constance Coolidge and the redoubtable Martha Gellhorn) Wells pursued in his later years, and Lynn, drawing on previously unpublished letters, tells their tales with great relish and considerable style. But with its limited focus, its tabloid intricacies and minutely rendered comings and goings, her book is likely to capture the attention only of true Wells devotees. The rest of the nation's readers can wait and hope that Lynn's keen eye will soon turn with equal gusto to a more broadly appealing subject. (Feb.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

In the last decade of his life, H.G. Wells fell in love with three women: British Baroness Moure Budberg and Americans Constance Coolidge and Martha Gellhorn, the future Mrs. Ernest Hemingway, who was some 40 years younger than he. In this new study of Wells's last years, journalist Lynn makes use of letters that the Wells estate had never before released. She reveals that the author of classics like War of the Worlds and The Time Machine possessed an almost insatiable sexual appetite despite his advancing years. Until his last days, Wells was obsessed with finding his ideal love, what he referred to as his "love-shadow." Lynn's investigation is well done, but we have to ask whether we really want or need to know all the intricate details of an author's private life. After reading this, readers may agree that the Wells family had good reason to keep these aspects of his life from the public. For academic collections. Ron Ratliff, Kansas State Univ., Manhattan Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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