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"He deceived me by telling the truth."
Edward Frederic Benson
Born – July 24, 1867
An English writer and archaeologist, writing as "E.F. Benson", he's a literary figure from a time gone by who still has a cult following for his charming, sharp novels. Original editions of his books are now highly collectible. His fans included W.H. Auden and Noël Coward. Benson penned more than 100 novels, biographies, and collections of stories. His first published work was when was 19 years old and still a student athlete representing Britain in skating.
Benson's first novel DODO (1893) was a scandalous success, although it's mostly forgotten today. Its theme of adultery was probably both shocking and titillating to late Victorian readers, especially because the writer was the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Benson also bravely published a notable love story between two boys at boarding school, DAVID BLAIZE (1916). Besides novels, he published 32 works of nonfiction and a dozen collections of literary short stories and tales of the supernatural.
Benson was a handsome, masculine, and athletic chap who happened to prefer the company of other gentlemen. At Cambridge he fell in love with a fellow student. Benson wrote in his diary: "I feel perfectly mad about him just now. Ah, if only he knew, and yet I think he does." Later, Benson lived with pianist John Ellingham Brooks who earlier had a three-month marriage to a more talented wife, painter Romaine Brooks, a lesbian. They shared a villa on the island of Capri; before World War I, the island was the spot for wealthy gays to openly frolic.
Benson's talented family was distinguished by the fact that, except for the father, every single member was queer. The father was the imposing professor, Edward White Benson. Soon after he died, his wife Mary Benson moved her girlfriend into their home and her bed. All three of Benson' siblings were busy sexually. A.C. Benson, his older brother, was one of the Edwardian era's bestselling writers. A Cambridge professor, he wrote literary criticism, poems, ghost stories and volumes of essays. He was deeply closeted and lived in constant fear of being outed. He begged E.F. to use discretion in his love life. The younger brother, Hugh Benson, converted to Catholicism and became a well-regarded religious writer under the name "Monsignor R.H. Benson". He had scandalous affair with the crazy Frederick William Rolfe, who wrote under the name "Baron Corvo", the most notorious gay writer of the era. Their lesbian sister, Maggie Benson, was an artist, writer, and noted Egyptologist. Together the Benson family produced an insane number of books, but the LUCIA novels, with their comic confection perfection, are the most remembered.
E.F. Benson died of cancer in 1940 at 72 years old.
Edward Frederic Benson
Born – July 24, 1867
An English writer and archaeologist, writing as "E.F. Benson", he's a literary figure from a time gone by who still has a cult following for his charming, sharp novels. Original editions of his books are now highly collectible. His fans included W.H. Auden and Noël Coward. Benson penned more than 100 novels, biographies, and collections of stories. His first published work was when was 19 years old and still a student athlete representing Britain in skating.
Benson's first novel DODO (1893) was a scandalous success, although it's mostly forgotten today. Its theme of adultery was probably both shocking and titillating to late Victorian readers, especially because the writer was the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Benson also bravely published a notable love story between two boys at boarding school, DAVID BLAIZE (1916). Besides novels, he published 32 works of nonfiction and a dozen collections of literary short stories and tales of the supernatural.
Benson was a handsome, masculine, and athletic chap who happened to prefer the company of other gentlemen. At Cambridge he fell in love with a fellow student. Benson wrote in his diary: "I feel perfectly mad about him just now. Ah, if only he knew, and yet I think he does." Later, Benson lived with pianist John Ellingham Brooks who earlier had a three-month marriage to a more talented wife, painter Romaine Brooks, a lesbian. They shared a villa on the island of Capri; before World War I, the island was the spot for wealthy gays to openly frolic.
Benson's talented family was distinguished by the fact that, except for the father, every single member was queer. The father was the imposing professor, Edward White Benson. Soon after he died, his wife Mary Benson moved her girlfriend into their home and her bed. All three of Benson' siblings were busy sexually. A.C. Benson, his older brother, was one of the Edwardian era's bestselling writers. A Cambridge professor, he wrote literary criticism, poems, ghost stories and volumes of essays. He was deeply closeted and lived in constant fear of being outed. He begged E.F. to use discretion in his love life. The younger brother, Hugh Benson, converted to Catholicism and became a well-regarded religious writer under the name "Monsignor R.H. Benson". He had scandalous affair with the crazy Frederick William Rolfe, who wrote under the name "Baron Corvo", the most notorious gay writer of the era. Their lesbian sister, Maggie Benson, was an artist, writer, and noted Egyptologist. Together the Benson family produced an insane number of books, but the LUCIA novels, with their comic confection perfection, are the most remembered.
E.F. Benson died of cancer in 1940 at 72 years old.
