Mary Renault (Magill Book Reviews)

At a glance:

MARY RENAULT is the first biography of a writer whose works are far better known than the details of her life. David Sweetman interviewed Renault in 1981 and corresponded with her until her death in 1983. With access to her letters and papers and the cooperation of her friends, Sweetman has produced a fascinating biography, one which is particularly relevant now that homosexuality is at last a permissible subject of discussion.

Born in London’s East End, where her father was a physician, Eileen Mary (Molly) Challans soon became aware of the failure of her parents’ marriage. Always private by nature, she spent much of her childhood alone with her books. At twenty, she defied her parents by insisting on entering Oxford. Later, after deciding to become a nurse, she met Julie Mullard and entered into a lesbian relationship with her. Using the pseudonym of Mary Renault, Challans eventually made enough money from her writing so that the two women could move to South Africa, where they lived together until the author’s death.

This biography will provide a basis for new critical insights into Renault’s works. For example, Sweetman shows how her distaste for heterosexual relationships, as well as her sympathetic understanding of gay men, is reflected in novels such as THE PERSIAN BOY (1972). In his handling of sexual issues, as well as of controversial political matters such as the question of Renault’s attitude toward apartheid, Sweetman has maintained an admirable intellectual honesty, which is particularly appropriate for a book about a writer as meticulous as Renault herself.

Sources for Further Study

Chicago Tribune. June 23, 1993, V, p.3.

The Christian Science Monitor. September 8, 1993, p.15.

Contemporary Review. CCLXIII, July, 1993, p.54.

Los Angeles Times Book Review. August 1, 1993, p.2.

New Statesman and Society. VI, March 26, 1993, p.41

The New York Times Book Review. XCVIII, June 27, 1993, p.13.

Publishers Weekly. CCXL, April 26, 1993, p.64.

The Times Literary Supplement. April 23, 1993, p.13.

The Wall Street Journal. June 25, 1993, p. A8.

Women’s Review of Books. XI, October, 1993, p.6.