Defending Anna

Thursday, October 5th., Trinity Hall Farm,

I received a letter last week from George Sturt containing his impressions having read Anna of the Five Towns. I value his friendship and his opinion but felt it necessary to write back in rather harsh terms because his critique was just plain wrong. I have a suspicion that he is just the least bit jealous of the novel's reception.

He described the novel as a 'partial failure' and I had to comment that the partial failure was not in the novel but in himself. he said that the characters did not seem 'real' or 'intimate' to him but this is clearly at odds with the ompression of every other person, expert or inexpert who has taken the trouble to say anything at all to me about the book. The general view is that the characters are intensely real. I have been amazed at the extraordinary enthusiasm of people about the reality, the conviction, and the appeal of the book. What astounded me most was Sturt's remark that I refuse to be emotional and am 'unimpassioned'. The book is emotional and impassioned from beginning to end. I think Sturt is looking for something which will never be found in my fiction, or any first rate modern fiction - the Dickens or Thackeray grossness. I don't feel it necessary to have them weep and shout all over the place to prove my characters' emotional sensibilities.

I concluded by saying that, though it is a singular and surprising thing to become aware of, his taste in imaginative work is crude and unreliable. I don't believe he has any genuine critical standard. It may be that this will be the end of our friendship which would be a pity, but I just could not let things fester in my heart - I needed to defend Anna.