Dusty Answer

By Rosamond Lehmann

Book Overview

"Dusty Answer" is a poignant and sensitive exploration of the transition from the innocence of childhood to the complex disillusionments of adulthood. Set against the backdrop of post-World War I England, the narrative follows Judith Earle, an introspective young woman who grows up observing the vibrant and enigmatic Fyfe cousins from her solitary garden. As Judith moves from the seclusion of her family home to the academic and social awakening of Cambridge University, she finds herself entangled in a web of shifting affections, unrequited desires, and the painful search for emotional permanence.

Rosamond Lehmann's debut work is celebrated for its lyrical prose and its courageous depiction of female interiority and unconventional relationships. The novel captures the essence of the modernist era through the eyes of a woman navigating the boundaries of friendship, love, and identity. A masterpiece of early 20th-century literature, "Dusty Answer" remains a profound meditation on the isolation of the individual and the bittersweet nature of memory. Lehmann's evocative storytelling ensures that Judith's journey toward self-discovery resonates with anyone who has ever grappled with the gap between expectation and reality.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1025486439
• ISBN13: 9781025486437
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Tradd Street Press
• Length: 358 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

intense and impassioned

_Dusty Answer_ was Lehmann's first novel, published in 1927 when she was just 26. Sales were slow and not much critical notice was taken of the book until Alfred Noyes gave it a glowing review in the Sunday Times, making _Dusty Answer_ a bestseller almost overnight. Its heroine, Judith Earle, is an intelligent, earnest girl who becomes entangled in the lives of five cousins who have occasionally visited at the house next door to Judith's; Judith played with them as a child, and years later, comes to know them again as she enters adulthood. When they reenter her life, she falls desperately in love with one of them. It often lacks narrative drive (especially in the rather uncertain, diffuse ending), but its intense, often idyllic, and impassioned style is compelling, a foretaste of things to come.

Very well written

This is the kind of book that you can re-read. (I have several times.) It's really very sad that it and so many of Rosamond Lehmann's other books are out of print. The plot is about a young English girl who falls in love with the family next door...over several years, as she grows up, goes to Cambridge, goes out into the world she keeps meeting various members and has relationships with them. If you like English writers like Elizabeth Taylor or Mary Webb as well as "women's fiction" I would highly recommend not only this book but Lehmann's others, especially "Invitation to the Waltz" and "The Weather in the Streets."