The absorbing portrait of a man who shaped the literary landscape as we know it
Helen Smith lives in Norfolk and teaches non-fiction and modern literature at the University of East Anglia. The Uncommon Reader- A Life of Edward Garnett is her first book; it received a RSL-Jerwood Award for Non-Fiction in 2011.
Rich in anecdote and knowledge, this is an exceptional biography
of an exceptional human being. -- John Carey * Sunday Times
*
[I]t rescues from obscurity one of the great English literary
taste-makers of the twentieth century, and in the process
sheds new light on some important writers, paints a
portrait of the London publishing scene that remained largely
unchanged until the big corporate buy-ups of the 1980s and 90s, and
presents a character -- Garnett himself -- who is interesting,
charming and impressive. -- Andrew Motion * Times Literary
Supplement *
Essential reading for anyone who cares about modernism. --
Claire Lowdon * Sunday Times **Literature Book of the Year 2017**
*
Well-researched, neatly written and not above the occasional
flash of sly humour. -- D.J. Taylor * Guardian *
There is a nugget on every page of Smith's biography. She spirits
up the whole jealous, bitching, scribbling literary world of the
age. -- Laura Freeman * The Times *
Helen Smith is to be congratulated on having written a masterly and
highly readable biography of Edward Garnett ... The Uncommon Reader
is required reading. -- Henrietta Garnett, granddaughter of Edward
Garnett * Literary Review *
A superb biography of Edward Garnett ... Smith has an eye
for the telling detail ... and her book paints a textured picture
of what life was like for people of Garnett's milieu ... Readers
will end up loving Garnett. With Smith's fine sense of pacing and a
fascinating subject, her book both delights and informs. *
Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW *
A sensitive biography of an influential editor and critic
... In her assured literary debut, Smith ... draws on
Garnett's copious correspondence, critical writings, and memoirs of
those who knew him to create a finely etched portrait of a man
who exerted a quiet, decisive influence on arts and letters. *
Kirkus *
An alternative history of British modernism. -- D.J Taylor * The
Tablet *
A very rounded and humane portrait. -- Diarmaid Ferriter * Irish
Independent *
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