The Ballad and the Source

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.