The Leavises

F. R. Leavis died in 1978 and his wife Q. D. Leavis in 1981, and with their deaths ended one of the most productive and influential literary partnerships in the language. This volume is a collection of reminiscences by people who knew Queenie Leavis as fellow students at Girton, were early pupils of Frank Raymon Leavis, collaborated in the editing of Scrutiny, or were colleagues or friends later. The collection, which is illustrated, is full of rich and fresh biographical information. Since it covers such a wide span, it brings out the contrast between the young couple at the beginning of their careers, good-looking, hopeful and confident; and the embattled veterans in seemingly endless conflict even with their friends and supporters. It also suggests the mercurial nature of both, since they could seem so widely different to different people, and to the very end both could exert formidable charm. Denys Thompson, who edited this volume, was an early pupil of Leavis's, and collaborated with him on Culture and Environment in the 1930s.