Wilfred Owen
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Guy Cuthbertson
In this new biography Guy Cuthbertson provides a fresh account of Owen's life and formative influences: the lower-middle-class childhood that he tried to escape; the places he lived in, from Birkenhead to Bordeaux; his class anxieties and his religious doubts; his sexuality and friendships; his close relationship with his mother and his childlike personality. Cuthbertson chronicles a great poet's growth to poetic maturity, illuminates the social strata of the extraordinary Edwardian era, and adds rich context to how Owen's enduring verse can be understood.
“This impressive biography shows us both aspects of the man and it sheds new light on important aspects of Owen’s literary career.”—The Sunday Herald
“[H]ere is an elegantly written, penetrating and stirring biography.”—John Preston, The Daily Mail
“Cuthbertson’s biography is admirably thorough in its unpacking of Owens’s poetic imagery. There is no reference that is unexplored.”—Daisy Goodwin, The Sunday Times
“[Cuthbertson] writes with such sincerity, telling the story of Owen’s short life and journey from provincial obscurity to the carnage on the western front and then to posthumous fame as a ‘war’ poet with diligence and empathy.”—Jason Cowley, The Financial Times
“Cuthbertson is scrupulous, thoughtful and open-minded. His book is fired with enthusiasm for the poems and respect for the man who created them. The result is a fine biography.”—John Sutherland, The Times
Publication Date: February 9, 2016
37 b/w illus.