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The Ballad and the Source
Series: Virago Modern Classics
Brief Description
One of the most remarkable British writers of the twentieth century 'The first writer to filter her stories through a woman's feelings and perceptions' — Anita Brookner 'I cannot doubt that this is Miss Lehmann's best and most permanent book' — Raymond Mortimer 'Unconventional in structure,...
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The Ballad and the Source
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The tale of the unlikely friendship between and an old woman and a young girl. One of Rosamond Lehmann's finest novels.
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Description
One of the most remarkable British writers of the twentieth century
'The first writer to filter her stories through a woman's feelings and perceptions' — Anita Brookner
'I cannot doubt that this is Miss Lehmann's best and most permanent book' — Raymond Mortimer
'Unconventional in structure, in characterisation and development of story... Unforgettable' — New York Herald Tribune
The tale of the unlikely friendship between an old woman and a young girl, The Ballad and the Source is one of Rosamond Lehmann's finest novels.
Ten-year-old Rebecca is living in the country with her family when Sibyl Jardine, an enigmatic and powerful old woman, returns to her property in the neighbourhood. The two families, once linked in the past, meet again, with the result that Rebecca becomes drawn into the strange complications of the old lady's life — with her husband, her errant daughter and her grandchildren. Through the spellbound eyes of the young Rebecca, we enter into an intricate and scandalous family history, and slowly the story of the passionate, stormy life of Mrs. Jardine unfolds.
Series: Virago Modern Classics
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Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780349017976
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 11 June 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Virago Press Ltd
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 95.0mm
Width: 26.0mm
Height: 196.0mm
Weight: 312g
Pages: 400
About the Author
Rosamond Lehmann (1901-1990) was born on the day of Queen Victoria's funeral, in Buckinghamshire, England, the second of four children. In 1927, a few years after graduating from the University of Cambridge, she published her first novel, Dusty Answer, to critical acclaim and instantaneous celebrity. Lehmann continued to write and publish between 1930 and 1976, penning works including The Weather in the Streets, The Ballad and the Source, and the short memoir The Swan in the Evening. Lehmann was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1982 and remains one of the most distinguished novelists of the twentieth century.
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