Inspired by the life of Julia Margaret Cameron, Afterimage is the bold and provocative story of Annie Phelan, a maid in the home of Isabel and Eldon Dashell. Isabel is experimenting with the new medium of photography, and is inspired by Annie, who becomes her muse. The two form a close relationship, but when Eldon devises his own plans for the young maid, Annie nearly loses herself, until disaster reveals her power over the Dashells’ work and hearts.

Afterimage

Literature & Fiction

Helen Humphreys

Genre Fiction

HarperflamingoCanada

HarperCollins Canada / Phyllis

Picador USA

And a Dog Called Fig is an insightful and meditative exploration of the writer’s life and the role dogs play in it, from award-winning author Helen Humphreys.An artist’s solitude is a sacred space, one to be guarded and kept apart from the chaos of the world. But in the artist’s quiet there is also loneliness, self-doubt, the possibility of collapsing too far inward.What an artist needs is a familiar, a creature perfectly suited to accompany them on this coveted, difficult journey. They need a companion with emotional intelligence, innate curiosity, passion, energy, and an enthusiasm for the world beyond, but also the capacity to sleep contentedly for many hours. What an artist needs, Helen Humphreys would say, is a dog.This brilliant memoir of the writing life is told through thedogs Humphreys has lived with and loved over a lifetime, touching on themes of connection, solitude, friendship and the creative process, and culminating with the arrival of a new puppy, Fig.A love song to the dogs who come into our lives, and all that they bring—sorrow, mayhem, meditation, joy—this is a book about companionship and loss, creativity and the writer’s craft, filled with the beauty of a steadfast canine friend and the restorative powers of nature.Interspersed are stories of other writers and their irreplaceable companions: Virginia Woolf and Grizzle, Gertrude Stein and Basket, Thomas Hardy and Wessex—the dog who walked the dining table at dinner parties, taking whatever he liked—and many more.Just as every work of art is different, every dog is different—with distinctive needs and lessons to offer. If we let them guide us, they, like art, will show us many worlds we would otherwise miss.

And A Dog called Fig: Solitude, Connection, the Writing Life

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Aurum

Leaving Earth

Contemporary

Metropolitan Books

The Evening Chorus

Profile Books

Reinvention of Love

This title is based on the true story of Charles Sainte-Beuve, his lover Adele and her husband, Victor Hugo. When Charles Saint-Beuve, a French literary journalist met Victor Hugo, an ambitious young writer who intended to become famous, he was swept into a world of grand emotions, a world where words can become swords. But it is not Victor he is really attracted to - it is his wife Adele. Soon the two lovers are on the edge of a great scandale and a wounded Victor must exact his price for betrayal, a price that will change the lives of many, including his own children. As Saint-Beuve - a man like no other man - struggles to hold on to what is left of his great love, he finds that only words can rekindle the flame. Set during the tumultuous reign of Napoleon III, this mesmerising novel draws a rich portrait of old Paris, where duels were fought and cholera-ridden bodies float in the Seine. Towering over all is the genius of Victor Hugo, already the voice of France, eventually banished to the island of Guernsey for his opposition to the regime. In contrast come the quieter voices of two women destroyed by Hugo's ferocious literary ambition as well as the unique, acerbic and heart-breaking voice of the critic and essayist, Saint-Beuve, first Hugo's friend and then his unlikely competitor in love. An atmospheric story of delicacy and emotion, of the experience of professional jealousy and personal passion, "The Reinvention of Love" is an outstanding piece of fiction writing, in part about writing itself.

The Reinvention of Love

SERPENTS TAIL +

The Frozen Thames

Short Stories & Anthologies

Union Books

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Books by Helen Humphreys