The fowl and the pussycat : love letters of Michael Field, 1876-1909

Edited by Sharon Bickle
Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2008

ISBN: 9780813927510

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Book description
Michael Field was the pseudonym used by Katharine Bradley (1846 - 1914) and Edith Cooper (1862 - 1913) - coauthors and lovers - for the poetry and verse drama they published. This edition of the love letters of Michael Field brings together for the first time a personal correspondence thought lost by critics. As the first modern scholarly edition of any of Michael Field's writings, the 168 letters represents a treasure trove of almost untouched manuscript material, including many from the critical early years (1876 - 1885) of this aunt-niece collaboration. The letters contain both published and unpublished poems and insights into the dramas and their production and are supplemented by extensive annotation and a biographical introduction.
By drawing on previously neglected information about the early lives of Brady and Cooper made available in these letters, Bickle is able to challenge many current perceptions about the poets' lives. She also show how the letters provide a context for understanding the development of specific works and for re-evaluating the significance of Michael Field as a late-Victorian writer.

About the author
Sharon Bickle is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Women's Studies and Gender Research at Monash University, Victoria.

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