{"product_id":"manservant-and-maidservant-isbn-9780940322639","title":"Manservant and Maidservant","description":"At once the strangest and most marvelous of Ivy Compton-Burnett's fictions, \u003ci\u003eManservant and Maidservant\u003c\/i\u003e has for its subject the domestic life of Horace Lamb, sadist, skinflint, and tyrant. But it is when Horace undergoes an altogether unforeseeable change of heart that the real difficulties begin. Is the repentant master a victim along with the former slave? And how can anyone endure the memory of the wrongs that have been done?\"The realism of this novel [\u003ci\u003eManservant and Maidservant\u003c\/i\u003e] like the realism of all Dame Ivy’s novels goes far beyond verisimilitude to some psychologically consistent truth that transcends words.\u003cbr\u003e— Constance Lewis\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA remarkable and unusual novelist, who has, in her own well-tilled field, no rival and no parallel.\u003cbr\u003e— \u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe thing is, Compton-Burnett is absolutely sui generis, although she’s often compared to Jane Austen. But as Francine Prose points out in the afterward to one of these new editions, she is Austen on bad drugs. Compton-Burnett herself was loftily dismissive of a comparison with Henry James. Her remorseless humor and savagery are a unique cocktail. There’s no middle ground with this novelist—you’re either bewildered by her or you become an addict. The technical term for the latter is an Ivyist. I do urge you to find out where you stand.\u003cbr\u003e— Maria Aitken, \u003ci\u003eBomb\u003c\/i\u003eIvy Compton-Burnett (1892-1969) wrote over fifteen novels about the upper classes of the late Victorian period. The novels are constructed almost entirely of seemingly banal dialogue that eventually reveals, beneath its surface, the truths of human nature and insights into human relationships which Compton-Burnett took as her themes. Her works include \u003ci\u003ePastors and Masters, A Family and a Fortune, Manservant and Maidservant,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA House and Its Head\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDiane Johnson’s most recent novel is \u003ci\u003eLulu in Marrakech\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"NYRB Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301521641701,"sku":"NP9780940322639","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780940322639.jpg?v=1767732227","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/manservant-and-maidservant-isbn-9780940322639","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}