Princess Elizabeth Bibesco: A Novelist of the 1920s

Abstract

Princess Elizabeth Bibesco (1897-1945) was the daughter of Sir Herbert Henry Asquith, Prime Minister of Great Britain between 1908 and 1916, and wife of Prince Antoine Bibesco (1878-1951). During the 1920s Bibesco published two novels The Fir and the Palm and There Is No Return which include her into the same spiritual family as the literary impres- sionists of the time. Critics did not pay too much attention to this novelist of the 1920s who holds, however, a singular place in the literary life of the time. This paper is a close reading of Bibesco’s novels from the 1920 which proves her indebtedness to modernism and literary impressionism.

La princesa Elizabeth Bibesco (1897-1945) era la hija de Sir Herbert Henry Asquith, Primer Ministro del Reino Unido entre 1908 y 1916, y la esposa del príncipe Antoine Bibesco (1878-1951). Durante la década de los años veinte Bibesco publicó dos novelas The Fir and

the Palm y There Is No Return, que la sitúan en la misma familia espiritual que los impresionistas de su tiempo. La crítica no prestó demasiada atención a esta novelista de los años veinte, que, sin embargo, ocupó un lugar especial en la vida literaria de su tiempo. Este trabajo consiste en una lectura detallada de las novelas de Bibesco que muestra su deuda con el modernismo y el impresionismo literario.