Rose Macaulay

She remained a spinster all her life but was involved in a secret relationship with Gerald O'Donovan, an Irish novelist. They met in 1918 and the affair lasted until Gerald passed away in 1942.

Rose Macaulay died of a heart attack on October 30, 1958, at the age of 77.

Rose Macaulay was born on August 1, 1881, in Rugby, Warwickshire, to George Campbell Macaulay, assistant master at Rugby School, and his wife, Grace Mary. She was the second of the seven children in the family.

She spent her early years in Varazze, on the coast near Genoa, Italy, where she grew up as a tomboy with the ambition of joining the Navy.

In 1894, when the family returned to England, she was enrolled in the Oxford High School for Girls. Later, she went on to study Modern History at Somerville College at Oxford University.

In 1903, she returned to live with her parents in Aberystwyth. Later, the family settled in Cambridge, after her father was given a lectureship in English at Cambridge.

In 1906, Emile Rose Macaulay published her first novel, ‘Abbots Verney’. It was followed by a sequence of more fictional works, but they made little impact and weren’t successful.

In 1912, she published her first successful novel titled ‘The Lee Shore’ which was also awarded the first prize in a competition.

During the First World War, she worked in the British Propaganda Department, serving as a volunteer nurse and a land girl. Later, she became a civil servant in the War Office.

After the war, Rose Macaulay concentrated on prose and wrote a series of satirical comic novels emphasizing on the irrationalities of those times. In 1920, her first best-seller, ‘Potterism’, was published, followed by ‘Dangerous Ages’ in 1921.

Her 1923 satirical novel titled ‘Told by an Idiot’ also proved to be a considerable success. Subsequently, she wrote several other works such as ‘Orphan Island’ (1924), ‘Crewe Train’ (1926), and ‘Keeping Up Appearances’ (1928).

Macaulay's final fictional novel, ‘The Towers of Trebizond’, is considered to be her most brilliant work. The book treats the attractions of mystical Christianity with melancholy humor and deep sadness, and also focuses on the conflict between adulterous love and the demands of the Christian faith.