He staggered toward them, making noises. He had lived so long with the fairies he had forgotten his native speech; he could only gibber and stammer. When they turned to look at him, he realized that he was in rags and half-naked. The ladies started back. The young men stepped forward defensively.

‘Do not be alarmed, do not be alarmed! He is merely one of our half-wits, too common in these days—poor unfortunate creatures, allowed to stray about for their living. But harmless. Our country people call them Innocents. Leave me to deal with him.’

He turned to James Sutherland.

‘Go away, my poor fellow! Here is a guinea, to buy yourself better clothing before the winter finds you out.’

The ladies were making a little collection amongst themselves. Now one came forward with it, her eyes averted.

He stared at her. Words were coming back to him.

‘Take it, take it,’ said the gentleman. ‘Go away, and be grateful.’

The Akeing Heart

Letters between Sylvia Townsend Warner, Valentine Ackland and Elizabeth Wade White

by Peter Haring Judd

The Akeing Heart is the story of the tormented relationships be-tween the British novelist and poet Sylvia Townsend Warner; her life partner Valentine Ackland; the American who invaded their happiness, Elizabeth Wade White; and Elizabeth’s neglected lover Evelyn Holahan. Valentine was the serial seducer, and Elizabeth the demanding lover claiming her sexuality for the first time. Sylvia kept faith in anger and despair, while Evelyn offered Elizabeth realistic fidelity to balance Valentine’s romanticism.

Originally self-published, this revised edition of correspondence over twenty years between the four women makes this book one of the finest collections of twentieth-century literary letters about love and its betrayals.

‘The Akeing Heart is the most important and startling addition in decades to what we know about these perennially fascinating writers.’

— Claire Harman, author of Sylvia Townsend Warner. A Biography and The Diaries of Sylvia Townsend Warner

‘Judd’s story is an engrossing one, and the best of the Warner letters evince her characteristic joy in language and observation.’

— Michael Caines, The Times Literary Supplement

Handheld Research 1

£24.99 hardback, ISBN 978-1-9998280-3-5

Desire

by Una L Silberrad

Desire is about Desire Quebell, an Edwardian New Woman who finds fulfilment in work and love. Desire can ignore society’s rules when she has a high social position, but when she is cast on her own resources, society won’t allow her to make her own living. Then Peter Grimstone, her closest friend, asks her to take a job as book-keeper in his family’s Staffordshire pottery firm. His scheming brother tries to disrupt their business success, and challenge Desire’s place in the firm.

First published in 1908, Una L Silberrad’s novel of professional integrity and feminist aspirations for the right to work was praised by contemporary reviewers: ‘it satisfies the intelligence at the same time as it appeals to the emotions’.

Handheld Classic 3

£12.99 paperback, ISBN 978-1-9998280-2-8