Anna Haycraft
Encyclopedia
Anna Haycraft was a British writer and essayist who wrote under the nom de plume Alice Thomas Ellis. She was the author of numerous novels, and also of some non-fiction, including cookery books.
Born Anna Margaret Lindholm, she was half-Finnish, half-Welsh
and spent part of her childhood as an evacuee in North Wales
, a period she later wrote about in A Welsh Childhood. She later moved to North London
.
and atheist
Church of Humanity
founded by Auguste Comte
, but she left to become a Roman Catholic at the age of 19. Shortly afterwards, she entered a convent
as a postulant
, but had to leave due to a health condition.
In 1956, she married Colin Haycraft, owner of the publishing company, Duckworth
. They were happily married until his death, in 1995. The couple had seven children, raised in Anna's religion, but they were also struck by tragedy: their daughter Mary died in infancy at the age of two days, and their son Joshua was killed in an accident while still in his teens.
The Birds of the Air is dedicated to her son, Joshua, with the following inscription:
Haycraft published her first novel, The Sin Eater, in 1977 under the pen name of Alice Thomas Ellis, which she used in all her subsequent writing.
She was well known as a hostess; her skill at cooking and entertaining was a considerable asset to the Duckworth company. Her cookery books include All-natural Baby Food (published Fontana/Collins, 1977) and Darling, you shouldn't have gone to so much trouble, co-written with Caroline Blackwood
. Caroline Blackwood and her husband, the American poet Robert Lowell
, were often in and out of the Haycraft home. She was also a close friend of Beryl Bainbridge
.
Her best-known novel was probably Unexplained Laughter (1985), which was adapted for British television, as was her Summerhouse Trilogy. Her novel The 27th Kingdom (1982) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Her Home Life column in The Spectator
was published in four volumes. All her work was livened by a dry, dark sense of humour. One of her most famous witticisms is as follows: "There is no reciprocity. Men love women. Women love children. Children love hamsters. Hamsters don't love anyone".
As a conservative Roman Catholic who was unhappy with the changes in the Church triggered by the Second Vatican Council
, she became a sharp polemicist in the press against what she believed were abuses of liturgy and practice that led to a watering-down of the faith. Though her fiction often seems feminist, with women as the usual leads, she was bitterly opposed to feminists in the Church, and claimed that since the change from the Tridentine Mass
she could barely bring herself to attend on Sundays. A regular columnist of the Catholic Herald newspaper, she launched a sharp attack in 1996 on Derek Worlock, the former Archbishop of Liverpool
, shortly after his death, accusing him of being responsible for a strong fall in Mass
attendance in the previous decade. After protests from readers of the newspaper she was sacked as a columnist, though the staff and some others took her side.
She was elected in 1999 a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Haycraft survived a bout of lung cancer but died a year later after secondary complications at age 72, in 2005.
is to be made into a feature film with a cast including Stephen Fry
, Michael Gambon
and Penelope Wilton
. The plot involves the main characters responding to an advertisement to spend Christmas on a remote Scottish island. Shooting at an undisclosed location in the west of Scotland was expected to commence in May 2009.
Born Anna Margaret Lindholm, she was half-Finnish, half-Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
and spent part of her childhood as an evacuee in North Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, a period she later wrote about in A Welsh Childhood. She later moved to North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
.
Life
Haycraft's parents belonged to the positivistPositivism
Positivism is a a view of scientific methods and a philosophical approach, theory, or system based on the view that, in the social as well as natural sciences, sensory experiences and their logical and mathematical treatment are together the exclusive source of all worthwhile information....
and atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
Church of Humanity
Church of Humanity
Church of Humanity was a positivist church influenced by Auguste Comte's "religion of humanity." Comte's "religion of humanity" in France, although small, inspired the rise of the "Church of Humanity" in England. It also had a branch or variant in New York City. Richard Congreve of the London...
founded by Auguste Comte
Auguste Comte
Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte , better known as Auguste Comte , was a French philosopher, a founder of the discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism...
, but she left to become a Roman Catholic at the age of 19. Shortly afterwards, she entered a convent
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
as a postulant
Postulant
A postulant was originally one who makes a request or demand; hence, a candidate. The use of the term is now generally restricted to those asking for admission into a monastery or a convent, both before actual admission and for the length of time preceding their admission into the novitiate...
, but had to leave due to a health condition.
In 1956, she married Colin Haycraft, owner of the publishing company, Duckworth
Gerald Duckworth and Company Ltd
-History:Founded in 1898 by Gerald Duckworth, Duckworth is an independent British publisher. It was important in the development of English literature in the first half of the twentieth century, being the publisher of figures such as Virginia Woolf , W. H. Davies, Anthony Powell, John Galsworthy...
. They were happily married until his death, in 1995. The couple had seven children, raised in Anna's religion, but they were also struck by tragedy: their daughter Mary died in infancy at the age of two days, and their son Joshua was killed in an accident while still in his teens.
The Birds of the Air is dedicated to her son, Joshua, with the following inscription:
- All his beauty, wit and grace
- Lie forever in one place.
- He who sang and sprang and moved
- Now, in death, is only loved.
Haycraft published her first novel, The Sin Eater, in 1977 under the pen name of Alice Thomas Ellis, which she used in all her subsequent writing.
She was well known as a hostess; her skill at cooking and entertaining was a considerable asset to the Duckworth company. Her cookery books include All-natural Baby Food (published Fontana/Collins, 1977) and Darling, you shouldn't have gone to so much trouble, co-written with Caroline Blackwood
Caroline Blackwood
Lady Caroline Maureen Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood was a writer and artist's muse, and the eldest child of the 4th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava and the brewery heiress Maureen Guinness....
. Caroline Blackwood and her husband, the American poet Robert Lowell
Robert Lowell
Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV was an American poet, considered the founder of the confessional poetry movement. He was appointed the sixth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress where he served from 1947 until 1948...
, were often in and out of the Haycraft home. She was also a close friend of Beryl Bainbridge
Beryl Bainbridge
Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge, DBE was an English author from Liverpool. She was primarily known for her psychological novels, often set amongst the English working classes. Bainbridge won the Whitbread Awards prize for best novel in 1977 and 1996; she was nominated five times for the Booker...
.
Her best-known novel was probably Unexplained Laughter (1985), which was adapted for British television, as was her Summerhouse Trilogy. Her novel The 27th Kingdom (1982) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Her Home Life column in The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
was published in four volumes. All her work was livened by a dry, dark sense of humour. One of her most famous witticisms is as follows: "There is no reciprocity. Men love women. Women love children. Children love hamsters. Hamsters don't love anyone".
As a conservative Roman Catholic who was unhappy with the changes in the Church triggered by the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
, she became a sharp polemicist in the press against what she believed were abuses of liturgy and practice that led to a watering-down of the faith. Though her fiction often seems feminist, with women as the usual leads, she was bitterly opposed to feminists in the Church, and claimed that since the change from the Tridentine Mass
Tridentine Mass
The Tridentine Mass is the form of the Roman Rite Mass contained in the typical editions of the Roman Missal that were published from 1570 to 1962. It was the most widely celebrated Mass liturgy in the world until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI in December 1969...
she could barely bring herself to attend on Sundays. A regular columnist of the Catholic Herald newspaper, she launched a sharp attack in 1996 on Derek Worlock, the former Archbishop of Liverpool
Archbishop of Liverpool
The Archbishop of Liverpool heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool in England. As such he is the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province of Liverpool, known also on occasion as the Northern Province.-History:...
, shortly after his death, accusing him of being responsible for a strong fall in Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
attendance in the previous decade. After protests from readers of the newspaper she was sacked as a columnist, though the staff and some others took her side.
She was elected in 1999 a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
Haycraft survived a bout of lung cancer but died a year later after secondary complications at age 72, in 2005.
Feature film
In early 2009, it was announced that an adaptation of The Inn at the Edge of the World by Charles DanceCharles Dance
Walter Charles Dance, OBE is an English actor, screenwriter and director. Dance typically plays assertive bureaucrats or villains. His most famous roles are Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown , Dr Clemens, the doctor of penitentiary Fury 161, who becomes Ellen Ripley's confidante in Alien 3 ,...
is to be made into a feature film with a cast including Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as...
and Penelope Wilton
Penelope Wilton
Penelope Alice Wilton, OBE is an English actress.-Life and career:Penelope Alice Wilton was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, to a former actress mother and a businessman father. She is a niece of actors Bill Travers and Linden Travers and a cousin of the actor Richard Morant...
. The plot involves the main characters responding to an advertisement to spend Christmas on a remote Scottish island. Shooting at an undisclosed location in the west of Scotland was expected to commence in May 2009.
Fiction
- The Sin Eater (1977)
- The Birds of the Air (1980)
- The 27th Kingdom (1982)
- The Other Side of the Fire (1983)
- Unexplained Laughter (1985)
- The Clothes in the Wardrobe (1987) (Summerhouse Trilogy I.)
- The Skeleton in the Cupboard (1988) (Summerhouse Trilogy II.)
- The Fly in the Ointment (1990) (Summerhouse Trilogy III.)
- The Inn at the Edge of the World (1990)
- Pillars of Gold (1992)
- The Evening of Adam (1994) (stories)
- Fairy Tale (1996)
- Hotel Lucifer (1999)
External links
- List of her publications, University of South Carolina website
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/mar/10/guardianobituaries.booksobituariesAlice Thomas Ellis: obituary by Clare Colvin at The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 10 March 2005] - "Alice Thomas Ellis Dies at 72; Writer About Spiritual and Mundane," New York Times, 12 March 2005