Pastors and Masters

By Ivy Compton-Burnett

Book Overview

Ivy Compton-Burnett (1884-1969) was a reclusive novelist who in the 1950s became known in literary circles as "the English Secret," and was considered austere and unassuming by all who had the rare fortune to meet her. Publicly, she was so modest that any praise of her books, made in her presence, pained her. But hidden under simple appearances lay a literary iconoclast with a biting, acerbic wit who developed a wholly distinct and highly individualistic dialogue-heavy style that would span 19 novels. A style first introduced here, in her second novel, Pastors and Masters. A short work that is largely a satiric depiction of Victorian institutions, and a character study of masculine authority and female subservience within the setting of a boys preparatory school after World War I. The crux of the loose narrative being one's success as defined by way of novel authorship. So unique is the style borne here that it has been described as "a work of genius. It is like nothing else in the world."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1948316188
• ISBN13: 9781948316187
• Release Date: May 2021
• Publisher: Heathen Editions
• Length: 130 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

unique

Britain's only significant post-modern writer. A national treasure, scandalously neglected in her own country.

The arrival of a distinctive style

Ivy Compton-Burnett's first novel, Dolores, was a sprawling and sentimental romance. She was deeply ashamed of it. In Pastors and Masters we see her own distinctive style first launched, laconic, ironic and understated. The story is set in a private school and contains the usual mixture of upper middle class misfits. It is a style that demands close reading. But it makes you laugh out loud on trains and planes.