This message comes from Phyllis Richardson.
Have you ever wondered which were the models for Pemberley, Brideshead and Manderley? Or what made E. M. Forster write about an idyllic cottage called ‘Howard’s End’? Or how did John Galsworthy envisage the cutting-edge (for 1886) house designed by Philip Bossiney for Soames Forsyte?
And then there’s Shandy Hall, the ‘crack-brained’ house where Laurence Sterne created Tristram Shandy, one of the most experimental novels ever written…
The house of fiction is a book by Phyllis Richardson exploring how the most celebrated houses in literature were inspired by existing houses, architectural trends and the authors’ personal experiences. It contains specially commissioned drawings by local artist Harriet Winterburn, such as that above of Horace Walpole’s ‘little Gothic castle’, Strawberry Hill, in Twickenham, where he dreamed not of Manderley but of Otranto.
The house of fiction is available to sponsor (by crowd funding at Unbound), much as Tristram Shandy was when first published in 1759. Sponsoring it will put your name in every copy and can even get you a signed print of your choice. You can also follow its development on Twitter: @_HouseofFiction.
Phyllis Richardson has published several books on architecture, as well as literary reviews. Her books include Superlight: lightweight houses, Nano House, New Sacred Architecture and the XS series. She is a longtime local resident, having lived by the Caledonian Road for 19 years. But that story is another book altogether…
Thornhill Square 