J. D. Beresford

About this book

John Davys Beresford, a prolific and innovative writer, was heralded in his time for his intelligence and imagination and was considered one of the finest novelists of his generation. George Johnson seeks to redress the unjust neglect of this important figure of the Georgian period. Johnson's unabashed esteem for Beresford the man and discerning admiration of Beresford's work endow this study with a depth and a vitality that bring his subject to life. Beresford was the author of forty-nine novels, five collections of short stories, nine autobiographical and miscellaneous books, and dozens of shorter pieces all of which crossed many genres and subgenres. Johnson has addressed this voluminous body of work by genre, devoting a chapter to each of the major subjects Beresford explored - psychological realism, psychoanalysis and mysticism, scientific romance, and speculative fiction. Beresford is of interest not only for his role as an innovator of the psychological novel but for his place in the literary history of the period. He was a friend and intellectual peer of such important writers as D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, John Cowper Powys, John Middleton Murry, and Walter de la Mare. Johnson's examination of Beresford's life benefits from his access to Beresford's unpublished autobiography; the memoir of Beresford's oldest son, Tristram; and Beresford's correspondence with his literary friends. The introduction of these materials, which have only recently been made available, allows for the most comprehensive study of Beresford's life and work to date.