{"product_id":"a-house-in-st-johns-wood-in-search-of-my-parents","title":"A House in St John's Wood: In Search of My Parents","description":"\u003cp\u003eA intimate portrait of Stephen Spender s extraordinary life written by his son, Matthew Spender, with new insights drawn from personal recollections and unpublished archives.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStephen Spender s life was a vivid prism on the twentieth century. Having met Auden and Isherwood at Oxford, he joined the early vocal critics of Hitler participated in the Spanish Civil War. His efforts there became distracted by the need to save his lover from being shot as a deserter, and by the outbreak of the Second World War he was judged unfit to fight. He served instead as a fireman and later produced propaganda for the war effort establishing a mysterious connection with the Foreign Office which has generated much speculation until now. Examining on the growth of Spender s literary reputation and his later encounters with the CIA, this book sheds new light on his career.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlways susceptible to the allure of young men, Spender remained married to his second wife, Natasha Litvin but continued to believe in male relationships as an essential creative inspiration. In tension with Natasha s career as a musician after the birth of their two children, a considerable creative tension developed in the household. Stoical in her suffering, Natasha began to agonise over their marriage during her close friendship with Raymond Chandler.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInsightful and revelatory, A House in St John s Wood is the portrait of a marriage, a movement and a father whose complex brilliance continues to be felt widely and among those closest to him.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"sb-details\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublished:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 438\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e William Collins\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9780008132064\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"William Collins","offers":[{"title":"Very Good — £7.74","offer_id":47908388569265,"sku":"SB-0008132062-C2","price":7.74,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/2669\/5345\/files\/0008132062.jpg?v=1789249707","url":"https:\/\/sellbooks.co.uk\/products\/a-house-in-st-johns-wood-in-search-of-my-parents","provider":"Sell Books .co.uk","version":"1.0","type":"link"}