A House and Its Head
First edition
AuthorIvy Compton-Burnett
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
PublisherW. Heinemann Ltd
Publication date
1935
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages287 pp

A House and Its Head is a 1935 novel by Ivy Compton-Burnett, republished in 2001 by New York Review Books with an afterword by Francine Prose and in 2021 by Pushkin Press with an introduction by Hilary Mantel.[1][2] The novel, which focuses on an upper-middle class Victorian household in the 1880s, explores themes such as family secrets and the subordination of women by men.[3] When asked in 1962 which of her novels were her favourites, Compton-Burnett referred to Manservant and Maidservant and "the first two-thirds" of A House and Its Head.[4]

Plot

A House and Its Head introduces a Victorian family: patriarch Duncan Edgeworth, his wife Ellen, his daughters Nance and Sibyl, and his nephew Grant, who is in line to inherit their house. Duncan is tyrannical and overbearing; early on, he throws a science book by Grant, which he finds "immoral," into a fire.

Ellen falls ill and dies, after which Duncan quickly remarries. His new wife, Alison, is beautiful but young -- scarcely older than his children. The marriage proves disastrous. Alison begins an affair with Grant, and they conceive a child, Richard. She tries to keep Richard's parentage a secret, but Duncan learns the child is not his from a letter from the family's former nurse, mentioning a white streak in Richard's hair. Alison elopes with family friend Almeric Bode, while Duncan marries the family governess Cassie, who agrees for financial reasons. They have a son, William.

Grant proposes to Nance, who turns him down, and then Sibyl, who accepts. Sibyl, angry that Richard is now in line to inherit Grant's property, pays the nurse to kill Richard by gassing him; she then spreads rumors insinuating that Duncan and/or Cassie may have been responsible. The murder is uncovered by Mrs. Jekyll, Cassie's mother, when she sees an incriminating letter in Sibyl's purse; the letter also reveals that Sibyl paid the nurse to write the letter to Duncan.

Grant leaves Sibyl, who moves in with her ill aunt. Sibyl inherits her aunt's fortune once she dies and asks Grant to forgive her, promising to share it with him. Grant reluctantly accepts.

Characters

The cast of characters introduced in the opening chapters:[5]

  • Duncan Edgeworth, 66, head of the Edgeworth family
  • Ellen Edgeworth, 60, Duncan's wife
  • Nance Edgeworth, 24, their elder daughter
  • Sibyl Edgeworth, 18, their younger daughter
  • Grant Edgeworth, 25, Duncan's fraternal nephew
  • Bethia, middle-aged, the Edgeworth's maid
  • Cassandra (Cassie) Jekyll, 39, governess to Nance and Sibyl
  • Oscar Jekyll, 38, village rector and Cassie's brother
  • Gretchen Jekyll, in her 70s, Cassie and Oscar's mother
  • Dulcia Bode, 24, friend of Nance and Sibyl
  • Almeric Bode, 26, Dulcia's older brother
  • Fabian Smollett, 55, village doctor
  • Florence Smollett, 55, Fabian's wife and cousin
  • Rosamund Burtenshaw, 44
  • Alexander Burtenshaw, Rosamund's father
  • Beatrice Fellowes, 38, Rosamund's cousin

Critical reception

Several contemporary writers and critics have praised A House and Its Head. Rebecca Abrams, writing in the New Statesman, ranked it among the publication's most important novels of the 20th century, comparing it to the work of Henry James.[6] Hilary Mantel, writing in The Telegraph, called the book "the merriest tale of human depravity you will ever read."[7] Prose, in her afterword, likened the novel's conclusion to "Jane Austen on bad drugs."[8]

References

  1. ↑ "A House and Its Head". New York Review Books. 28 February 2001. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  2. ↑ "A House and Its Head by Ivy Compton-Burnett | Pushkin Press". pushkinpress.com. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  3. ↑ Hardy, Barbara (31 March 2016). Ivy Compton-Burnett. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9781474401364. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  4. ↑ Millgate, Michael (October 1962). "Interview with Miss Compton-Burnett". Review of English Literature. III: 61–82.
  5. ↑ Sollars, M. D. (2011). Dictionary of Literary Characters. Facts On File.
  6. ↑ Abrams, Rebecca (10 January 2000). "The female gaze". No. 587. New Statesman.
  7. ↑ Mantel, Hilary (13 March 2021). "Hilary Mantel on the drawing-room depravity of Ivy Compton-Burnett". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  8. ↑ Prose, Francine (28 February 2001). Afterword: A House and Its Head. ISBN 9780940322646. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
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