Mary and Mr. Eliot - by Mary Trevelyan & Erica Wagner (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Mary and Mr. Eliot is a twin portrait of T. S. Eliot and its author, the formidable Mary Trevelyan.

In 1938 T. S. Eliot, already "a Classic in his lifetime," struck up a friendship with Mary Trevelyan. This passionately curious woman, an intrepid traveler who, like Eliot, was deeply involved in the affairs of the Church of England, served as the warden of the Student Movement House, mere yards from the poet and editor's office at Faber and Faber.

Their relationship was domestic rather than artistic, characterized by churchgoing, conversation, record-playing, day trips to the English countryside with Mary at the wheel of the car Tom bought her, and Eliot cooking up sausages in his shirtsleeves. Over the years, their friendship deepened, and she came to believe it might grow into something more. Twice she proposed marriage, but Eliot always led her to understand that any such commitment would be impossible for him. Then the revelation of his long attachment to Emily Hale--and the sudden shock of his marriage to his secretary, Valerie Fletcher--caused a rupture between Trevelyan and the poet that could not be overcome.

Mary Trevelyan left a unique chronicle--including diaries, letters, and pictures--that charts their twenty-year relationship. Now Erica Wagner has given it shape and context, bringing this untold story to light for the first time. Mary and Mr. Eliot is a tale of joy, misunderstanding, and betrayal that feels utterly modern and deeply human.

Review Quotes

"Erica Wagner brings the secret history of T. S. Eliot and Mary Trevelyan to light in this gripping account of friendship, repressed desire, and heartbreak. Trevelyan was Eliot's loyal companion for nearly twenty years. Over intimate dinners and long country drives, he confided in her about his anxieties, desires, and haunting memories of his first wife Vivienne. But the platonic relationship ended abruptly. Trevelyan's revelatory manuscript offers a surprisingly fresh portrait of 'Tom' Eliot, and her own dashed hopes for a life together." --Heather Clark author of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath

"Reading this elegant, clever and moving book is like looking at Eliot through a lancet window: we get a tightly-focused and revealing view of one of his most important friendships, and a valuable understanding of how it relates to the panorama of his whole personality. An exemplary 'sort of' biography." --Andrew Motion, author of Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life

"A completely fascinating, revelatory exposure of a forgotten corner of T. S. Eliot's amatory life--brilliantly curated, edited and annotated by Erica Wagner. A classic of its kind." --William Boyd, author of Trio

"[Mary and Mr. Eliot] is more than a memoir of knowing a famous poet; it's a dual portrait of a woman who hides nothing and a celebrity given to secrecy . . . How deftly Wagner transforms a scrapbook filled with gems into a revealing and ultimately tragic story." --Lyndall Gordon, author of Outsiders: Five Women Writers Who Changed the World

"Mary & Mr Eliot is a testament to Trevelyan, who, as Wagner goes to great lengths to point out, was much more than Eliot's friend . . . it is impossible to read the book and not be struck by her energy, determination and strength." --Tom Williams, The Spectator

'Erica Wagner shows herself to be a forensically astute reader of the memoir and letters that Trevelyan left behind.' --Kathryn Hughes, Sunday Times

About the Author

Mary Trevelyan (1881-1966) was a noted humanitarian and commentator on British culture and society. From 1938 to 1957, she was a close friend of T. S. Eliot. She left an unpublished manuscript, The Pope of Russell Square, about their relationship, which has been edited and expanded by Erica Wagner.

Erica Wagner is the author of a novel, Seizure; Ariel's Gift: Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, and the Story of "Birthday Letters"; and Chief Engineer: Washington Roebling, the Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge; among other works. Literary editor of the London Times for many years, she is now a contributing writer for the New Statesman, consulting literary editor for Harper's Bazaar, and Goldsmiths Writers' Centre Distinguished Fellow.