Lady Into Fox

Lady into Fox (1922) is a novel by David Garnett. Garnett's second novel-and first published using his real name-was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Hawthornden Prize, and continues to be regarded as a highly original allegorical fantasy set in the modern world. "Wonderful or supernatural events are not so uncommon, rather they are irregular in their incidence. Thus there may be not one marvel to speak of in a century, and then often enough comes a plentiful crop of them; monsters of all sorts swarm suddenly upon the earth, comets blaze in the sky, eclipses frighten nature, meteors fall in rain, while mermaids and sirens beguile, and sea-serpents engulf every passing ship, and terrible cataclysms beset humanity." Lady into Fox is a modern fairy tale exploring the effects of the inexplicable on the lives of a young married couple. While walking in the woods near their rural estate, Sylvia Tebrick and her husband Richard enjoy the beauty of nature in the way only lovers seem to do. When Sylvia is suddenly transformed into a fox, however, their dream of bliss dissolves into a nightmare of confusion and terror. Back at home, they attempt to conceal the truth from family and servants alike. For a time, Sylvia seems almost human. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of David Garnett's Lady into Fox is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

David Garnett (1892-1981) was a British writer. Born in Brighton, East Sussex, Garnett was the son of Edward Garnett, a critic and publisher, and Constance Clara Black, a translator of Russian known for bringing the works of Chekhov and Dostoevsky to an English audience. A pacifist, he spent the years of the First World War as a conscientious objector working on fruit farms along the eastern coast England. As a member of the Bloomsbury Group, he befriended many of the leading artists and intellectuals of his day. After publishing his debut novel, Dope Darling (1918), under a pseudonym, he won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Lady into Fox (1922), an allegorical fantasy novel. His 1955 novel Aspects of Love was adapted into a musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Alongside poet Francis Meynell, Garnett founded the Nonesuch Press, an independent publisher known for its editions of classic novels, poetry collections, and children's books. Garnett, a bisexual man, had relationships with fellow Bloomsbury Group members Francis Birrell and Duncan Grant, and was married twice in his life. Following the death of his first wife Ray, with whom he had two sons, Grant married Angelica Bell, the daughter of Grant and Vanessa Bell, whose sister was renowned novelist Virginia Woolf. Together, the Garnetts raised four daughters, three of whom went on to careers in the arts. Following his divorce from Angelica, Garnett spent the rest of his life in Montcuq, France.