The Lady Who Became a Fox - The Lady Who Became a Fox

…He was born into a literary family with his grandfather Richard, the head librarian of the British Museum, and his mother Constance, a translator of Russian literature. He was educated at home, and became passionate about botany, before moving on to the Royal College of Science. During World War I, he worked with Quakers as a conscientious anti-war activist, helping the wounded. After the war, he worked as a bookseller and made his literary debut with The Lady Who Became a Fox (1922), a story about a man who lives with his wife who has turned into a fox. He is famous for his simple, clear, and realistic writing of fantasy stories, such as The Man in the Zoo (1924), about a man who fights with his lover and volunteers to be in a zoo as a model for humanity, and The Sailor Returns (1925), the story of a black princess from the Kingdom of Dahomey who comes to England. However, his later series of novels, beginning with Aspects of Love (1955), are completely different from the above, depicting wealthy middle-aged men and are genre novels. …

*Some of the terminology used in "The Woman Who Became a Fox" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…祖父リチャードRichardは大英博物館図書部長で文学者，母コンスタンスConstanceもロシア文学の翻訳家という文学的名家に生まれ，自宅で教育を受け，植物学に熱中，ローヤル･カレッジ･オブ･サイエンスに進む。第1次大戦中は良心的反戦論者としてクエーカー教徒とともに負傷者救助活動に従事，戦後書籍商などをしながら，狐になった妻と暮らす話《狐になった婦人》(1922)で文壇に登場。恋人と喧嘩して〈人間〉見本として動物園入りを志願する《動物園の男》(1924)，イギリスに来たダホメー王国の黒人王女の物語《水夫還る》(1925)など，幻想風の話を簡潔清楚な文体でリアリスティックに描く作品が有名だが，《愛の諸相》(1955)で始まる後期の一連の小説は中年の金持を描き，これらとはまったく違った風俗小説である。…

※「《狐になった婦人》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

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