Summary
William Wordsworth's creative collaboration with his 'beloved Sister' spanned nearly fifty years, from their first reunion in 1787 until her premature decline in 1835. Rumours of incest have surrounded the siblings since the 19th century, but Lucy Newlyn sees their cohabitation as an expression of deep emotional need, arising from circumstances peculiar to their family history. Born in Cockermouth and parted when Dorothy was six by the death of their mother, thesiblings grew up separately and were only reunited four years after their father had died, leaving them destitute. How did their orphaned consciousness shape their understanding of each other? What part did traumatic memories of separation play in their longing for a home? How fully did theirre-settlement in the Lake District recompense them for the loss of a shared childhood?Newlyn shows how William and Dorothy's writings -- closely intertwined with their regional affiliations -- were part of the lifelong work of jointly re-building their family and re-claiming their communal identity. Walking, talking, remembering, and grieving were as important to their companionship as writing; and at every stage of their adult lives they drew nourishment from their immediate surroundings.This is the first book to bring the full range of Dorothy's writings into the foreground alongside her brother's, and to give each sibling the same level of detailed attention. Newlyn explores the symbiotic nature of their creative processes through close reading of journals, letters and poems -- sometimes drawing on material that is in manuscript. She uncovers detailed interminglings in their work, approaching these as evidence of their deep affinity. The book offers a spirited rebuttal of themyth that the Romantic writer was a 'solitary genius', and that William Wordsworth was a poet of the 'egotistical sublime' -- arguing instead that he was a poet of community, 'carrying everywhere with him relationship and love'. Dorothy is not presented as an undervalued or exploited member of theWordsworth household, but as the poet's equal in a literary partnership of outstanding importance.Newlyn's book is deeply researched, drawing on a wide range of recent scholarship -- not just in Romantic studies, but in psychology, literary theory, anthropology and life-writing. Yet it is a personal book, written with passion by a scholar-poet and intended to be of some practical use and inspirational value to non-specialist readers. Adopting a holistic approach to mental and spiritual health, human relationships, and the environment, Newlyn provides a timely reminder that creativitythrives best in a gift economy.
Lucy Newlyn was born in Uganda, grew up in Leeds, and read English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She is now Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford University, and a Fellow of St Edmund Hall. She has published widely on English Romantic Literature, including three books with Oxford University Press. Her book Reading, Writing, and Romanticism: The Anxiety of Reception (OUP, 2000) won the British Academy's Rose Mary Crawshay prize in 2001. Morerecently she has been working on the prose writings of Edward Thomas. Together with Guy Cuthbertson she edited Branch-Lines: Edward Thomas and Contemporary Poetry, as well as England and Wales, a volume in the ongoing OUP edition of Thomas's prose. Married with a daughter and two step-children, Lucy Newlynlives in Oxford. Ginnel, her first collection of poetry, was published in 2005.
