Queen Lear

Front Cover
Dutton, 1989 - Fiction - 232 pages
Eight-year-old Nicandra is named after a horse. She lives with her parents. Sir Dermot and Lady Forester, and her aunt Mrs. Fox-Collier (Aunt Tossie) at Deer Forest. An Irish country mansion, and loves to love and be loved. One day as she prattles about the grounds visting Lizzie the housemaid, Twomey the butler, Mrs. Geary the cook and all the underlings, this delightful structure of life is struck as if by lightning: her mother has committed an act too dreadful ever to be spoken of and vanishes forever from Deer Forest. Nicandra grows up cooing with the dogs, sleeping in Belgian lace, teasing the retarded peasant boy, Silly-Willie and yearning to love and to give. Frayed memories of her mother's perfume and a missing stableman vaguely disturb her. When the dandy, Andrew catches her eye, Nicandra, beautiful, rich and badly dressed, marries him. Queen Lear tells the story of this frightful marriage and a world that has passed into oblivion.

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Contents

Section 1
3
Section 2
23
Section 3
45
Copyright

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About the author (1989)

Molly Keane was born Mary Nesta Skrine in County Kildare, Ireland on July 20, 1904. From 1928 to 1956, she wrote under the pseudonym M. J. Farrell. As Farrell, she wrote 11 novels and several plays including Young Entry, Devoted Ladies, Loving without Tears, Spring Meeting, Ducks and Drakes, Guardian Angel, Treasure Hunt, and Dazzling Prospect. She stopped writing for over 20 years until Good Behaviour was published in 1981 under her married name and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Her other later works include Time After Time and Loving and Giving. She died on April 22, 1996.

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