A Very Queer Family Indeed
Sex, Religion, and the Bensons in Victorian Britain
9780226527284
9780226393780
9780226393810
A Very Queer Family Indeed
Sex, Religion, and the Bensons in Victorian Britain
“We can begin with a kiss, though this will not turn out to be a love story, at least not a love story of anything like the usual kind.”
So begins A Very Queer Family Indeed, which introduces us to the extraordinary Benson family. Edward White Benson became Archbishop of Canterbury at the height of Queen Victoria’s reign, while his wife, Mary, was renowned for her wit and charm—the prime minister once wondered whether she was “the cleverest woman in England or in Europe.” The couple’s six precocious children included E. F. Benson, celebrated creator of the Mapp and Lucia novels, and Margaret Benson, the first published female Egyptologist.
What interests Simon Goldhill most, however, is what went on behind the scenes, which was even more unusual than anyone could imagine. Inveterate writers, the Benson family spun out novels, essays, and thousands of letters that open stunning new perspectives—including what it might mean for an adult to kiss and propose marriage to a twelve-year-old girl, how religion in a family could support or destroy relationships, or how the death of a child could be celebrated. No other family has left such detailed records about their most intimate moments, and in these remarkable accounts, we see how family life and a family’s understanding of itself took shape during a time when psychoanalysis, scientific and historical challenges to religion, and new ways of thinking about society were developing. This is the story of the Bensons, but it is also more than that—it is the story of how society transitioned from the high Victorian period into modernity.
So begins A Very Queer Family Indeed, which introduces us to the extraordinary Benson family. Edward White Benson became Archbishop of Canterbury at the height of Queen Victoria’s reign, while his wife, Mary, was renowned for her wit and charm—the prime minister once wondered whether she was “the cleverest woman in England or in Europe.” The couple’s six precocious children included E. F. Benson, celebrated creator of the Mapp and Lucia novels, and Margaret Benson, the first published female Egyptologist.
What interests Simon Goldhill most, however, is what went on behind the scenes, which was even more unusual than anyone could imagine. Inveterate writers, the Benson family spun out novels, essays, and thousands of letters that open stunning new perspectives—including what it might mean for an adult to kiss and propose marriage to a twelve-year-old girl, how religion in a family could support or destroy relationships, or how the death of a child could be celebrated. No other family has left such detailed records about their most intimate moments, and in these remarkable accounts, we see how family life and a family’s understanding of itself took shape during a time when psychoanalysis, scientific and historical challenges to religion, and new ways of thinking about society were developing. This is the story of the Bensons, but it is also more than that—it is the story of how society transitioned from the high Victorian period into modernity.
344 pages | 8 halftones | 6 x 9 | © 2016
History: British and Irish History
Literature and Literary Criticism: British and Irish Literature
Religion: Christianity
Reviews
Table of Contents
Part I: The Family That Wrote Itself
1 Sensation!
2 Wooing Mother
3 Bringing Up the Subject
4 Fifty Ways to Say I Hate My Father
5 Tell the Truth, My Boy
6 A Map of Biographical Urges
7 To Write a Life
8 Women in Love
9 Graphomania
Part II: Being Queer
10 What’s in a Name?
11 Though Wholly Pure and Good
12 He Never Married
13 All London Is Agog
14 Carnal Affections
15 Be a Man, My Boy
16 “It’s Not Unusual . . .”
Part III: The God of Our Fathers
17 It Will Be Worth Dying
18 The Deeper Self That Can’t Decide
19 Our Father
20 Secret History
21 Writing the History of the Church
22 Building History
23 Forms of Worship
24 Capturing the Bensons
Part IV: Not I . . .
25 Not I . . .
1 Sensation!
2 Wooing Mother
3 Bringing Up the Subject
4 Fifty Ways to Say I Hate My Father
5 Tell the Truth, My Boy
6 A Map of Biographical Urges
7 To Write a Life
8 Women in Love
9 Graphomania
Part II: Being Queer
10 What’s in a Name?
11 Though Wholly Pure and Good
12 He Never Married
13 All London Is Agog
14 Carnal Affections
15 Be a Man, My Boy
16 “It’s Not Unusual . . .”
Part III: The God of Our Fathers
17 It Will Be Worth Dying
18 The Deeper Self That Can’t Decide
19 Our Father
20 Secret History
21 Writing the History of the Church
22 Building History
23 Forms of Worship
24 Capturing the Bensons
Part IV: Not I . . .
25 Not I . . .
Bibliography and Notes
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
Be the first to know
Get the latest updates on new releases, special offers, and media highlights when you subscribe to our email lists!