When I posted about the Cazalet novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard, Barbara at Life Must Be Filled Up mentioned the author's autobiography which apparently inspired many people, places, and events in the novels. These include a grandfather who was a "minor composer" (he wrote the Warsaw Concerto), a mother who was a ballet dancer (with Diagehlev's Ballets Russes), and a character who wanted to be an actress (herself.)
The autobiography, Slipstream (2002) sounded so interesting that I ordered a copy from abe.com. And today it arrived, displacing entirely the four books that came home from the library the day before yesterday and the five books that I bought at Auntie's Bookstore yesterday, and indeed, every other book in the house.
At the front of Slipstream, Howard provides a cast of characters - people she has known who are mentioned in the book - that includes Sybille Bedford, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Cyril Connolly, Joyce Grenfell of St Trinian's fame, Terence Kilmartin of Proust translation fame, Olivia Manning, Carson McCullers, Ivor Novello (real name David Ivor Davies), Malcolm Sargent (whose nickname apparently was Flash Harry), and Barbara Skelton (whose memoirs were filled with what Anthony Powell called "peculiarly incisive malignity.")
Also Elizabeth Taylor (the author), Antonia White, Pablo Casals, Marc Chagal, Isadora Duncan, and many others.
Thank you Barbara.
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