Listen and read

Step into an infinite world of stories

  • Listen and read as much as you want
  • Over 400 000+ titles
  • Bestsellers in 10+ Indian languages
  • Exclusive titles + Storytel Originals
  • Easy to cancel anytime
Subscribe now
Details page - Device banner - 894x1036

Griselda & Other Stories: I used to think twenty such a terrible age when I was seventeen

Language
English
Format
Category

Short stories

Amy Levy was born in London, England in 1861, the second of seven in a fairly wealthy Anglo-Jewish family. The children read and participated in secular literary activities and became firmly integrated into Victorian life.

Her education was at Brighton High School, Brighton, before studies at Newnham College, Cambridge; she was the first Jewish student when she arrived in 1879, but left after four terms.

Amy’s writing career began early; her poem ‘Ida Grey’ appeared when she was only fourteen. Her acclaimed short stories ‘Cohen of Trinity’ and ‘Wise in Their Generation, ’ were published by Oscar Wilde in his magazine ‘Women's World’.

Her poetic writings reveal feminist concerns; ‘Xantippe and Other Verses’, from 1881 includes a poem in the voice of Socrates's wife. ‘A Minor Poet and Other Verse’ from 1884 comprises of dramatic monologues and lyric poems.

In 1886, Amy began a series of essays on Jewish culture and literature for the Jewish Chronicle, including ‘The Ghetto at Florence’, ‘The Jew in Fiction’, ‘Jewish Humour’ and ‘Jewish Children’.

That same year while travelling in Florence she met the writer Vernon Lee. It is generally assumed they fell in love and this inspired the poem ‘To Vernon Lee’.

Her first novel ‘Romance of a Shop’, written in 1888 is based on four sisters who experience the pleasures and hardships of running a London business during the 1880s. This was followed by Reuben Sachs (also 1888) and concerned with Jewish identity and mores in the England of her time and was somewhat controversial.

Her final book of poems, ‘A London Plane-Tree’ from 1889, shows the beginnings of the influence of French symbolism.

Despite many friendships and an active life, Amy suffered for many years with serious depressions and this, together with her growing deafness, led her to commit suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide on September 10th, 1889. She was 27.

© 2021 Miniature Masterpieces (Ebook): 9781839679285

Release date

Ebook: 1 June 2021

Others also enjoyed ...

  1. Anne of Green Gables L. M. Montgomery
  2. The Entail E.T.A Hoffmann
  3. Peter Pan J. M. Barrie
  4. Sevastopol Sketches Leo Tolstoy
  5. The Death of the Lion: "Call it that if you like" Henry James
  6. The Half-Brothers & Other Stories: “But the future must be met, however stern and iron it be. ” Elizabeth Gaskell
  7. The Top 10 Short Stories - Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott
  8. Alexanders Bridge: “There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.” Willa Cather
  9. Castle Richmond Anthony Trollope
  10. The Top 10 Short Stories - The 20th Century - The American Men Henry James
  11. The Lorenzo Bunch: “Mystics always hope that science will some day overtake them” Booth Tarkington
  12. Women: “It was annoying how her voice, though never loud, pursued him” Booth Tarkington
  13. The Affair at Coulter's Notch Ambrose Bierce
  14. The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands R. M. Ballantyne
  15. The Top 10 Short Stories - The 19th Century - The American Men Henry James
  16. The Sire de Maletroit's Door Robert Louis Stevenson
  17. Black Ivory R.M. Ballantyne
  18. Life on the Mississippi Mark G. Twain
  19. The Spoils of Poynton Henry James
  20. Martin Rattler R. M. Ballantyne
  21. The Top 10 Short Stories - The 1900's - The Women Edith Nesbit
  22. The Man Who Would Be King Rudyard Kipling
  23. The Trysting Place: “It is the liveliest time in life, the happiest of the irresponsible times in life” Booth Tarkington
  24. Dr Wortle's School Anthony Trollope
  25. One of the Missing Ambrose Bierce
  26. The Top 10 Short Stories - The 1880's Leo Tolstoy
  27. An Outcast of the Islands Joseph Conrad
  28. The Landleaguers Anthony Trollope
  29. Trouble for Lucia E.F. Benson
  30. Wives and Daughters - AUK Classics Elizabeth Gaskell
  31. Lucia's Progress E.F. Benson
  32. Underwoods Robert Louis Stevenson
  33. Desert Gold Trilogy Zane Grey
  34. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Original Classic - 1865 Edition) Lewis Carroll
  35. Summary of Inside Out: A Memoir by Demi Moore: Key Takeaways & Analysis Included Brooks Bryant
  36. Bones Edgar Wallace
  37. Sherlock Holmes - His Last Bow Arthur Conan Doyle
  38. The Angel Of Terror Edgar Wallace
  39. Summary: Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek: Key Takeaways, Summary & Analysis Brooks Bryant
  40. Homesteads Ernest Haycox
  41. Aunt Crete's Emancipation Grace Livingston Hill
  42. The Flying Squad Edgar Wallace
  43. An Evening's Entertainment: Western: Short Stories Ernest Haycox
  44. The Last of Plainsmen Zane Grey
  45. The Wall Mary Roberts Rinehart
  46. Two Flights Up Mary Roberts Rinehart