The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother and Me Free
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FREE THE MAD BOY, LORD BERNERS, MY GRANDMOTHER AND ME PDF Sofka Zinovieff | 448 pages | 03 Nov 2016 | Vintage Publishing | 9780099571964 | English | London, United Kingdom Book Review: ‘The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother and Me’ by Sofka Zinovieff - WSJ Goodreads helps you keep track of books you My Grandmother and Me to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for Lord Berners us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Robert Heber-Percy was a dashing young The Mad Boy who would rather My Grandmother and Me a My Grandmother and Me than My Grandmother and Me a book, so his involvement with Jennifer Fry, a beautiful socialite famous for her style and charm, was not surprising. But by the time Robert met and married Jennifer, he had already been involved with a man—Gerald, Lord Berners—for more than a decade. Stout, eccentric, and significantly older, Gerald was a well-known composer, and at home among scholars. The two made an unlikely couple, especially because they lived together at Faringdon House when homosexuality was illegal. In this gorgeous, entertaining narrative of Lord Berners aristocracy illustrated with dozens of photographs, Sofka Zinovieff probes the mysteries of her grandparents and the third man in their marriage. Who was Gerald, and what brought Robert and Jennifer together under his roof? Why did Jennifer marry Robert? Piecing The Mad Boy the complicated reality behind the scandals of revelry and sexuality, she finally allows old ghosts to rest. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. Published March 31st by Harper first published July Lord Berners More Details Other Editions 2. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. Sort order. Apr 09, Sketchbook rated it did not like it. Choke on it. Lord Berners was nearing 50 -- writer, composer, painter, and closeted aristo, by law -- when, in Lord Berners, he mentored and "protected" lol Robert Heber-Percy, age 21, an aristo with No Ambitio "Mad Boy Lord Berners was nearing 50 -- writer, composer, painter, and closeted aristo, by law -- when, inhe mentored and "protected" lol Robert Heber-Percy, age 21, an aristo with No Ambition and in search of a sugar daddy. A hunky-cutey with a bad temper, he had no particular interests outside of sex. The author of this memoir her grandfather was, probably, Robert wants to believe that the two pecked kissies a few times, but, surely, did nothing more : C'mon, lady! Gerald was an interesting, though, physically, most unattractive poop. He was also a wit who needed entertainment. Robert obliged. But he was never a "mad boy. Enter The Mad Boy beaut-dun-it-all aristo dame named Jennifer, whose own dado was queer -- prethis seems to be the Brit norm. Suddenly queer Robert marries Lord Berners preggie miss and then locks his bedroom door. She births a child named Victoria and soon decamps to other areas of London. So, in fact, this is not about a menage-a-trois. False advertising. The first pages dump a guest List at the manor of Lord Berners. Heigh-ho, heigh-ho! The midsection some pages The Mad Boy only worth reading : it covers Robert's eh-huhh? Badly conceived, the book has another dear gott pages of scrapple while the author tells us all about herself more ehh? Wazzit Robert or someone else for whom he played stand-in? I sus he may have poked Jennifer once she knew where to guide his The Mad Boy thingie and agreed to play "official father"-- for it may have been Ian or Ned or jessuzooo. If so, it was the one courteous deed he ever did. The author -- Victoria's daughter -- is sincere and scrupulous. Her memmy is so discreet, and humorless, it could be read aloud at high tea or High Church. Most annoying, the author fails to put this "story" in any perspective of our evolving sexio-cultural world. View all 13 comments. Dec My Grandmother and Me, Paul rated it it was amazing Shelves: biographygeneral. This is a fun read written in a wonderful and easy to read style packed with some fantastic photographs. Besides writing about herself Sofka introduces us to the cast her grandmother Jennifer Fry the heir to the Fry Chocolate dynasty and the only daughter of Geoffrey Fry; the mad boy is Robert Heber-Percy who may or may not be the grandfather of the author; Lord Berners is the gay lover and benefactor of Robert, who happens to be eccentric as well as a composer, writer and artist; and the manor house is Farringdon. Lord Berners throughout the s entertained the fashionable and well connected in society London of the time. Farringdon is where they could come and play not having to worry about what others thought so we get a star studded cast all the way through the book; with people such as The Mitford sisters, HG Wells and Igor Stravinsky the list is endless. This book enlightens us to Lord Berners and how he became involved in the much younger bisexual Robert. If this were today the red top papers would be filling their pages with the gossip of what was happening at Farringdon. This book is a well presented well written book which lovingly tells us of all the eccentrics and eccentricities that took place at Farringdon. This is a pleasure to read and takes us back to a world that has since died whatever some people say. View 1 comment. Dec 02, Tosh rated it really liked it Shelves: books-to-purchase. I'm a fan of Lord Berners, and this book gives a more full picture of the world of Berners and his extraordinary home, the Faringdon House. From the s to the s, a narration of slightly decadent people with a cast of individuals such as Cecil Beaton, among many. My Grandmother and Me beautifully designed book, with fascinating family pictures of the estate and those who lived in this wonderful house. There is no real in-depth look into Berners' writings or music, but still a detailed account of his life as part of the society at the time. Dithered between three and four stars for this. It's a gorgeous book to look at and handle. It's SO heavy, with thick, shiny, creamy paper and lots of beautiful photographs. It's the sort of book you open and close and almost stroke before you settle down to read it properly. The author is Jennifer's granddaughter. It's packed full of everyone who was any My Grandmother and Me between three and four stars for this. It's packed full of everyone who was anyone during the 's and 30's and I spent a lot of time googling to find out more about the outrageous stories and life styles mentioned. The language sometimes got a little too flowery for my Lord Berners. I could do without "both were sexual buccaneers whose bodies were their boats". For goodness sake! Having said that, it's an enjoyable read. Jul 14, Denis rated it really liked it. This is the My Grandmother and Me that this book is all about. Somehow, and rather cleverly, Zinovieff, its author, manages to give it an irresistible homage, while simultaneously depicting it with honesty and without false nostalgia or pink-colored glasses. Faringdon House is truly the heart of the book, and Zinovieff writes beautifully about its atmosphere, about the way it looked and felt, about how people — owners and guests — lived in it. Their amazingly privileged even if often tragic lives seem straight out of a novel. Forster, among others. There are, for example, much more detailed books about Berners, and numeros bios of the Mitford sisters. But she does gives us a sensitively articulated and quite empathic portrait of both Berners and the lesser-known Robert, who formed an unusual and arresting couple. She also writes lovingly about the enigmatic and charismatic Jennifer, a free spirit who, to the shock of quite a few, married Robert, and lived for a while at Faringdon House with the two men. Without any judgement, the author writes about the complicated lives of all those characters — including their sexuality, which is often burdened by the pressures of society homosexuality was then punishable by law in GB and by traumatic family histories. Still, a new generation has lately given new life to Faringdon House, bringing hope and youthfulness to Lord Berners, while continuing to honor its glorious past. Accordingly melancholic and joyful, Zinovieff is a gifted guide who is as beguiled as her reader by the world she introduces us to. Feb 11, Sarah Beth rated it really liked it Shelves: harpercollins-advance-reader-copies. I received an uncorrected proof copy of this book from HarperCollins. Author Sofka Zinovieff's grandparents Jennifer and Robert belonged to the glittering, bohemian aristocracy of Britain of the s and 40s. ‘The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother and Me’ by Sofka Zinovieff - The Boston Globe Robert Heber-Percy was a dashing young man who would rather have a drink than open a book, so his involvement with Jennifer Fry, a beautiful socialite famous for her style and charm, was not surprising. But by the time Robert met and married Jennifer, he had already been involved with a man—Gerald, Lord Berners—for more than a decade. Stout, eccentric, and significantly older, Gerald was a well-known composer, and at home among scholars.