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Some things people have written about D. K. Broster and The Flight of the Heron
In the course of my research for the Flight of the Heron Wikipedia entry I've read various sources about the book and Broster more generally—in literary dictionaries, scholarly books, magazines and various other kinds of publications. Some of these are fairly detailed and pretty interesting, and here are a collection of sources that I hope may be of interest to the fandom!
I've included links to archived copies wherever possible—most of these require an archive.org account in order to read more than a couple of pages. Let me know if you can't access these for any reason—I've got typed-up copies of all the pieces and will happily send any of them to you.
The Horn Book Magazine, volume 5, number 1, February 1929, article by Eleanor Whitney. Short article about Broster, and—most interestingly—a further contribution from Broster herself! This is the only writing of Broster's about her own life and work that I've found, and contains lots of interesting detail both biographical and about her writing process. The ultimate source of this letter is rather mysterious; the Horn Book Magazine claims it was written for them, but a slightly different version of the same letter appears in The Junior Book of Authors in both 1934 and 1951—the latter claiming that it was written for them shortly before her death, which certainly isn't true. Also the Dictionary of Literary Biography (see below) quotes bits from it alongside other quotes not in it, describing the source as an 'undated typescript for a speech' in St Hilda's College archives, and Diana Wallace (also see below) cites something that sounds like this piece as a source for information that isn't in it; which suggests there's yet another, longer and more detailed, version of the same piece in the college archives.
Mrs Beer's House by Patricia Beer, 1968; pp. 115-118, 185-186. This is one of several autobiographies to mention Flight of the Heron as an important part of the young author's reading, but it's by far the most detailed, and it's generally delightful. Beer is the earliest instance I've found of someone definitely recognising the homoeroticism of Ewen/Keith; she also shares our mystification over the short word beginning with S which BPC was going to call Ewen in that one scene, and includes some of her teenage poetry inspired by Loch na h-Iolaire!
Twentieth Century Romance and Gothic Writers, edited by James Vinson and D. L. Kirkpatrick, entry written by E. F. Bleiler, 1982. Not very detailed, but a nice overview, and I agree with their assessment of the ending of The Dark Mile.
Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 160: British Children’s Writers, 1914-1960, edited by Donald R. Hettinga and Gary D. Schmit, entry written by Ruth Waterhouse, 1996. This is one of the longest and most thorough sources, covering all Broster's books (except Child Royal, which is inexplicably skipped) and her life in some detail; it's well-researched, using material from St Hilda's College archives, and contains some thoughtful discussion of the books and their themes. Waterhouse says some interesting things about Flight of the Heron, treats Almond, Wild Almond more sympathetically than I'm inclined to—making some decent points, though I can't quite agree—and, somewhat oddly, views both Ships in the Bay! and World Under Snow as entirely comic/parodic works.
The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English, edited by Germaine Greer and Elaine Showalter, entry written by Valerie Purton, 1999. I'm not impressed with this piece, which contains multiple minor factual errors and rather badly misrepresents the themes of Flight of the Heron (yes, gentlemanly values are important, but the one crucial point where Keith despises 'womanishness' in himself it's clearly an incorrect judgement of something good, and I don’t think Ewen frames his gentlemanly values in a particularly misogynistic way. And the characterisation is so not simplistic!).
Contemporary Authors, edited by Scot Peacock, 2003. The writer of this entry gets an impressive amount about the books wrong (did you know that the main characters of The Wounded Name are on opposite sides of the Napoleonic Wars—we're not informed whether Aymar or Laurent is the Bonapartist, sadly—or that Raoul des Sablières is actually an Englishman???) and has relied heavily on the Dictionary of Literary Biography for the rest, but also includes some biographical details that haven't turned up anywhere else, and frustratingly without citing any primary sources.
The Woman's Historical Novel by Diana Wallace, 2005, pp. 7, 29, 33-34. While limited in scope, this is one of the most fascinating sources I know of, and it's therefore particularly frustrating that it doesn't seem to be archived online anywhere. Message me if you'd like a copy of the relevant passages! Wallace discusses the homoeroticism of The Flight of the Heron in the broader context of women's writing about relationships between men and oblique representations of sexuality; she argues that the fantasy element in the book, the prophecy foretelling Ewen and Keith's meetings, gives this forbidden, repressed attraction an opportunity for subtextual expression.
Out of the Attic: Some Neglected Children’s Authors of the Twentieth Century, edited by Pat Pinsent, entry by Chris Clark, 2006. This is the longest and most scholarly discussion of Broster's work I've found, and contains a lot of food for thought. It compares Broster's writing to that of another historical novelist, Cynthia Harnett (I only skimmed the parts about Harnett, not having read any of her books, but I may have to see if I can find them at some point!), and analyses the sentence-level craft of The Flight of the Heron and The Gleam in the North in great detail. Clark articulates a lot of things about Broster's writing style and characterisation that I was vaguely aware of but hadn't laid out for myself this explicitly, which is interesting, and I think they've also (unintentionally; there's no discussion of the homoeroticism here) put their finger on why Ewen is such a satisfying character to slash, which is perhaps slightly less obvious than why Keith is. They also speculate about why Broster's popularity has waned and why she might appeal less to modern readers.
The History of British Women’s Writing, 1920-1945 (Volume Eight), edited by Maroula Joannou, in a chapter by Diana Wallace, 2013. Largely a less detailed restatement of Wallace's ideas from her own book (see above), but a nice succinct statement (and available on archive.org!).
I've included links to archived copies wherever possible—most of these require an archive.org account in order to read more than a couple of pages. Let me know if you can't access these for any reason—I've got typed-up copies of all the pieces and will happily send any of them to you.
The Horn Book Magazine, volume 5, number 1, February 1929, article by Eleanor Whitney. Short article about Broster, and—most interestingly—a further contribution from Broster herself! This is the only writing of Broster's about her own life and work that I've found, and contains lots of interesting detail both biographical and about her writing process. The ultimate source of this letter is rather mysterious; the Horn Book Magazine claims it was written for them, but a slightly different version of the same letter appears in The Junior Book of Authors in both 1934 and 1951—the latter claiming that it was written for them shortly before her death, which certainly isn't true. Also the Dictionary of Literary Biography (see below) quotes bits from it alongside other quotes not in it, describing the source as an 'undated typescript for a speech' in St Hilda's College archives, and Diana Wallace (also see below) cites something that sounds like this piece as a source for information that isn't in it; which suggests there's yet another, longer and more detailed, version of the same piece in the college archives.
Mrs Beer's House by Patricia Beer, 1968; pp. 115-118, 185-186. This is one of several autobiographies to mention Flight of the Heron as an important part of the young author's reading, but it's by far the most detailed, and it's generally delightful. Beer is the earliest instance I've found of someone definitely recognising the homoeroticism of Ewen/Keith; she also shares our mystification over the short word beginning with S which BPC was going to call Ewen in that one scene, and includes some of her teenage poetry inspired by Loch na h-Iolaire!
Twentieth Century Romance and Gothic Writers, edited by James Vinson and D. L. Kirkpatrick, entry written by E. F. Bleiler, 1982. Not very detailed, but a nice overview, and I agree with their assessment of the ending of The Dark Mile.
Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 160: British Children’s Writers, 1914-1960, edited by Donald R. Hettinga and Gary D. Schmit, entry written by Ruth Waterhouse, 1996. This is one of the longest and most thorough sources, covering all Broster's books (except Child Royal, which is inexplicably skipped) and her life in some detail; it's well-researched, using material from St Hilda's College archives, and contains some thoughtful discussion of the books and their themes. Waterhouse says some interesting things about Flight of the Heron, treats Almond, Wild Almond more sympathetically than I'm inclined to—making some decent points, though I can't quite agree—and, somewhat oddly, views both Ships in the Bay! and World Under Snow as entirely comic/parodic works.
The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English, edited by Germaine Greer and Elaine Showalter, entry written by Valerie Purton, 1999. I'm not impressed with this piece, which contains multiple minor factual errors and rather badly misrepresents the themes of Flight of the Heron (yes, gentlemanly values are important, but the one crucial point where Keith despises 'womanishness' in himself it's clearly an incorrect judgement of something good, and I don’t think Ewen frames his gentlemanly values in a particularly misogynistic way. And the characterisation is so not simplistic!).
Contemporary Authors, edited by Scot Peacock, 2003. The writer of this entry gets an impressive amount about the books wrong (did you know that the main characters of The Wounded Name are on opposite sides of the Napoleonic Wars—we're not informed whether Aymar or Laurent is the Bonapartist, sadly—or that Raoul des Sablières is actually an Englishman???) and has relied heavily on the Dictionary of Literary Biography for the rest, but also includes some biographical details that haven't turned up anywhere else, and frustratingly without citing any primary sources.
The Woman's Historical Novel by Diana Wallace, 2005, pp. 7, 29, 33-34. While limited in scope, this is one of the most fascinating sources I know of, and it's therefore particularly frustrating that it doesn't seem to be archived online anywhere. Message me if you'd like a copy of the relevant passages! Wallace discusses the homoeroticism of The Flight of the Heron in the broader context of women's writing about relationships between men and oblique representations of sexuality; she argues that the fantasy element in the book, the prophecy foretelling Ewen and Keith's meetings, gives this forbidden, repressed attraction an opportunity for subtextual expression.
Out of the Attic: Some Neglected Children’s Authors of the Twentieth Century, edited by Pat Pinsent, entry by Chris Clark, 2006. This is the longest and most scholarly discussion of Broster's work I've found, and contains a lot of food for thought. It compares Broster's writing to that of another historical novelist, Cynthia Harnett (I only skimmed the parts about Harnett, not having read any of her books, but I may have to see if I can find them at some point!), and analyses the sentence-level craft of The Flight of the Heron and The Gleam in the North in great detail. Clark articulates a lot of things about Broster's writing style and characterisation that I was vaguely aware of but hadn't laid out for myself this explicitly, which is interesting, and I think they've also (unintentionally; there's no discussion of the homoeroticism here) put their finger on why Ewen is such a satisfying character to slash, which is perhaps slightly less obvious than why Keith is. They also speculate about why Broster's popularity has waned and why she might appeal less to modern readers.
The History of British Women’s Writing, 1920-1945 (Volume Eight), edited by Maroula Joannou, in a chapter by Diana Wallace, 2013. Largely a less detailed restatement of Wallace's ideas from her own book (see above), but a nice succinct statement (and available on archive.org!).
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Ahahaha WOW that is a big thing to get wrong! Trying to figure out how the plot would work... I think it's easier to make Laurent the Bonapartist, since he has way less military backstory (we can't get rid of Aymar being shot by his own men!), so maybe... Laurent is a Bonapartist who has been imprisoned for insubordination or something... OR NO, WAIT, Laurent is a Bonapartist who is PRETENDING to be a Royalist captive, put in Aymar's cell to look after him in hopes of making him talk to this supposedly sympathetic audience! Only Laurent ruins it all by falling for the mark.
Actually I think that could also be a delightful book (although probably not a Broster book), but not even in the ballpark of the actual book as written!
I've found that books that are specifically focused on women's writing are sometimes weirdly antagonistic to women's writing - I'm thinking particularly of Mary Cadogan and Patricia Craig's You’re a Brick, Angela!: A New Look at Girls’ Fiction, from 1839-1975, which I read lo these many years ago for my thesis project, and I still remember how much the authors seemed to hate almost every book they covered. So it doesn't surprise me that someone decided that Flight of the Heron is all about gentlemanly values and misogyny, although like you I think that interpretation is a real reach.
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That's a very good point, and I've seen something similar in Shakespearean academic circles. I suppose it's possible to get fed up with a genre - and I always have the reaction 'Well, let's see you do better yourself!' which is petty, I know.
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That is strange and depressing. I don't think I've ever read a book like that all the way through, rather than looking up specific bits. I might read The Woman's Historical Novel—if the part about FotH is anything to go by, Wallace does like the books she's writing about and has a lot of thoughtful things to say about them, and there are several other authors I know in there.
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(Eventually Laurent's dilemma is resolved, when his superiors, despairing of ever getting this information, let Aymar go from Arbelles and Laurent decides to pull a Keith Windham and abandon his duty to go and care for Aymar instead.)
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I've been de-cluttering, but have been wondering if 'Out of the Attic' is worth buying, since even our State Library doesn't have it. But it ain't cheap, and a first edition of FoTH might be a better use of the money. Any thoughts would be appreciated. The State Library does have the Cambridge Guide, and I remember that entry; I like your interpretation that Keith is simply wrong. That line always bothered me, but if the narrative is hanging out a sign saying 'he's being a total twit' at this point, which I missed, that makes me feel better about it.
As for Broster trying her hand at comedy novels, perhaps I should re-read a few of them with that in mind. The misadventures of Nugent Carew, for instance, which luzula has reminded me of; I simply wanted to shake the guy, but perhaps I was missing the point completely!
And as for Scot Peacock, that's someone else who clearly needs shaking. Whut.
But thank-you for this round-up. This is a trail of bread-crumbs indeed; not an easy author to research, but it must make the process of finding out all the more satisfying!
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Out of the Attic—definitely the bit on Broster is interesting, but I wouldn't pay expensive-book-price money just for that and I do not know what the rest of the book is like. Maybe if there are other authors in there you particularly want to read about (can you view the version on archive.org?).
(FWIW, first editions of FotH are not necessarily very expensive—mine was £12—although the situation in Australia may be different).
I like your interpretation that Keith is simply wrong. That line always bothered me, but if the narrative is hanging out a sign saying 'he's being a total twit' at this point, which I missed, that makes me feel better about it.
I wouldn't say it's exactly hanging out a sign, but looking at the broader context—Keith going back to the hut to help Ewen is clearly a good thing, as are the general feelings for Ewen that are motivating him, and I think it's clear that the narrative is showing this as a misjudgement from Keith's carefully cultivated cynicism. (I mean, the intention is probably 'no, it's not womanly' not 'no, there's nothing wrong with a man acting "like a woman"', but even so; also, worrying that there's something unmanly about his feelings for Ewen seems somewhat significant, which I like even in the context of those ideas all being sexist).
As for Broster trying her hand at comedy novels, perhaps I should re-read a few of them with that in mind. The misadventures of Nugent Carew, for instance, which luzula has reminded me of; I simply wanted to shake the guy, but perhaps I was missing the point completely!
I think some of her books definitely have a prominent comedic element—Ships in the Bay! and, yeah, The Sea without a Haven—but was perplexed by the idea of them as totally parodic. And World Under Snow just seemed like a normal detective novel to me. IMO Broster's ability to use her sense of humour while keeping an emotional seriousness to the story—gently laughing without turning the characters and story into a joke—is amongst the many especially good things about her writing. I had no particularly strong feelings about Nugent!
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