Gladys Huntington's Literary Circle

Although Gladys Huntington’s name wasn’t truly known to the public as that of a writer until after her death,[1] she maintained friendships with other authors, some rather well-known, throughout her life. They would often exchange their writing along with their correspondence, encouraging each other and editing their work. Her husband's vocation at Putnam's publishing also granted her a certain increased access to literary circles. This is an overview of some of Gladys’ literary connections and their correspondence, as found in the collection generously donated by Katherine Urquhart Ohno. Gladys certainly had even more friends and acquaintances in the writing world, but these are ones whose correspondence with her survives to this day.

Click on each letter to be redirected to a larger view with a complete transcription.

Content warning for mentions of suicide.

Lady Cynthia Asquith

Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Asquith by Bassano Ltd., 1912. National Portrait Gallery, NPG X32899.

The real reason of this letter is to tell you how immensely impressed I have been by “Carfrae’s Comedy” which I have just read for the first time. I was enthralled. I think it has so much quality, and throughout that sense of something momentous impending that Conrad has to so great an extent. I think Blanche is a very real creation, and there is so much good writing in the book.

Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Asquith (1887-1960) was a versatile writer, horror/ghost fiction pioneer, and diarist. Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Asquith (1887-1960) was a versatile writer, horror/ghost fiction pioneer, and diarist. Much of her work was not known until after her death in 1968, after which her children published their mother’s work.[2]

In 1941, Lady Cynthia wrote Gladys complimenting Carfrae’s Comedy, Glady’s debut novel released in 1915 to mixed reviews. Cynthia was impressed and encouraged Gladys to write more.

Why ever-ever-ever don’t you write another??? Wouldn't it be a good opportunity - this long convalescence? 

Learn more about Lady Asquith here!

Fleming, Colin. “Remembering the Forgotten First Lady of Horror, Cynthia Asquith.” Vice, November 1, 2016.

Fowler, Christopher. “Forgotten Authors: No 4 - Lady Cynthia Asquith.” Independent, October 22, 2011.

Clifford Bax

Clifford Bax by Howard Coster, 1940. National Portrait Gallery, NPG x2780.

The letter is undated and without its envelope, but references “the ‘tough’ and democratic audiences of 1945” so we can assume it was written around then. It references The Ladies’ Mile, a play Gladys wrote but never appears to have published, which she was working on turning into a novel at the time of her death in 1959. This is the only letter between the two that we are aware of, which makes the phrase “you are a strange person with hypersensitive antennae” all the more odd, as it implies a close, jovial relationship between the two, yet Bax opens the letter with “Dear Mrs. Huntington” rather than “Dear Gladys”.

Clifford Bax (1886-1962) was a prolific English writer who explored many mediums (including playwriting, journalism, criticism, editing, translation). He is best known for his plays, such as The Rose without a Thorn (1933) and The Venetian (1931).[3]

In this letter to Gladys, Bax writes:

“What a strange play you have written in “The Ladies’ Mile” (not a good title: not dignified enough): but then you are a strange person with hypersensitive antennae.”

Learn more about Clifford Bax here!

Clifford Bax Papers. University of Rochester, River Campus Libraries: Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation.

Lady Gregory

Lady Isabella Augusta Gregory (1852-1932) was a writer and playwright who was influential in the Irish Literary Revival of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She founded Abbey Theatre, the national theatre of Ireland, along with William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn.[4] Lady Gregory was sympathetic to Irish nationalism and focused on Irish traditions and legends in her writing.[5]

Augusta, Lady Gregory by George Beresford, 1911. Hulton Archive, Getty Images.

In her letter, Lady Gregory refers to Gladys as “Mrs. Huntington”—an indication that the two were not particularly close—but it also references some mutual friends, the Shaws. Her letter thanks the Huntingtons for hosting her. It is unlikely that the two exchanged writing samples and had a more surface, social level relationship. 

Learn more about Lady Gregory here!

“All This Mine Alone: Lady Gregory and the Irish Literary Revival.” New York Public Library.

Remport, Eglantina. “A reappraisal of Lady Gregory.” The Irish Times, January 18, 2019.

Viola Meynell

Viola Meynell by E.O. Hoppé, 1916.

There appears to be a pattern of Viola’s criticisms being somewhat backhanded emerging, saying she’s certain Gladys will fix the first part and that she thought Gladys would struggle to stay on topic. She appeared to greatly enjoy it, however, as in another letter, she wrote:

“There’s something about your writing which in a little casual-sounding phrase gets a whole volume of truth - I can hardly express what an utter sense of satisfaction it gives me. I literally don’t know any writing that brings me in more direct touch with life.”

Viola Meynell (1885-1956) was an English writer, best known for her poetry and short stories. She was the daughter of prominent British Catholic writers and publishers, Wilfrid and Alice Meynell.[6] She corresponded with Gladys from at least 1938-1945, discussing life, health, and writing.

In a letter from 1938, Viola compliments Gladys’ writing:

“It is a more wonderful thing even than I expected - at least more wonderful within, that it is at all times accessible, as it were, and does not disappear down labyrinths, as I had thought it might conceivably do here and there.

[…]

I had mostly succeeded in my effort to read it as by someone unknown to me, that I might get the suspense and thrill of half-revealed circumstances and events. (It is so good not to know sometimes, and to be only half-told). But the gradually accumulated weight of agony had to be fastened on to you, and I had the dismay of knowing that it was far worse than I thought.”

Seven years later, the pair was still corresponding about Gladys’ writing:

“I also am thrilled with your beginning, + I am more glad than I can say that you have embarked on this, for I know it will be a wonderful book. I felt, perhaps even more than the other two, the necessity of telescoping this first part, but it is hardly necessary to mention that, because I have enough experience to know that one always goes back, later, + tightens up the beginning.”

Learn more about Viola Meynell here!

Viola Meynell Letters. Boston College, John J. Burns Library: Archives and Manuscript Department.

Leo Myers

Leopold Hamilton Myers (1881-1944) was a British novelist, best known for his book series The Root and the Flower. He supported anarchism and Russian communism, as is evident in both his work and his correspondence with Gladys. He chafed against the expectations of society his entire life and explored spirituality in his work.[7]

Leopold Hamilton Myers by Howard Coster, 1934. National Portrait Gallery, NPG Ax136088.

In a letter to Gladys from October 13, 1940, he mentions working on a book about “…the beautiful world of Anarchism which will eventually come.”

Leo and Gladys corresponded consistently from 1939 (or earlier) to 1941. Their correspondence covered many topics: war, politics, writing, daily life, physical and mental health, and more. Leo was depressed for the duration of their correspondence and became emotionally volatile, which led to the dissolution of many of his friendships toward the end of his life.[8]

Leo was very encouraging of Gladys’ writing. On July 26, 1939 he wrote:

“The description of happiness is exceedingly good. I liked to get away from the love interest for a bit - into happiness. I liked the delicate candour + truth […] of your treatment of P’s nerves + health, I liked the house with its people, & I liked enormously the Uncle John + family part at the end. ”

Beyond compliments, Myers also criticized her work, clearly preferring her less ‘literary’ writing. In the same letter, he says:

“I think this lump is better - more un-literary (Proustian) than the rest. I felt the opening […] to be just a touch Proustian in their attitude […] + the almost too exact narration of details of feeling + sensation.”

Packet holding Gladys and Leo’s last correspondence, on which Gladys wrote.

He and Gladys had a sudden fight about his treatment of a mutual friend, fellow writer Desmond MacCarthy, in March/April 1941, ending their friendship for good—his last letter to her was so insulting she destroyed it. Unfortunately, Myers committed suicide in April 1944, a path Gladys would also take 15 years later.

In 1959, Gladys wrote in her diary on January 18:

“Mr John Morris (Leo Myers’ friend) will come for a drink.” 

Somewhat romantically and fancifully, I interpret this entry as Gladys’ having realized that although what Leo said to her was unacceptable, it was motivated by mental illness and fit into a larger pattern, so she connected with some of his friends.

I also find it interesting that Gladys and Desmond MacCarthy came to be friends. Such good friends, in fact, that her defense of his treatment could end a friendship. In 1924, MacCarthy wrote a less-than-flattering review of Gladys’ play Bartons Folly, saying:

“Miss Gladys Parrish’s Barton’s Folly, acted at the Court Theatre last Sunday, had that “something,” though it was a bad play.”

He concludes his review:

“Though inexpert, confused, and full of bugbears, Barton’s Folly is the work of an imagination.”

It is fascinating to imagine how the potential he sensed in her in this review gave start to a valued friendship.

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It is important to note that all of these literary connections all hail from the upper echelons of society, including some with titles. Although Leo Myers purported to support communism and anarchism, he did not, to our knowledge, redistribute his own significant wealth. He also indicates that Gladys is also sympathetic to those causes in her correspondence, yet her social circle seems confined to her own class. This speaks to who could afford time spent writing and who could not in society around the ‘30s and ‘40s.

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[1] Gladys' journey to recognition as a writer, and as the author of Madame Solario, was not straightforward. To learn more about it, check out this blog post!
[2] Fowler, Christopher. "Forgotten Authors: No 4 - Lady Cynthia Asquith." Independent, October 22, 2011.
[3] "Clifford Bax papers." University of Rochester, River Campus Libraries, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, D.254.
[4] Van Riper, Tyler. "Alas! a woman may not love!" by Lady Gregory. Washington & Lee University: Shenandoah.
[5] "Augusta, Lady Gregory. Encyclopedia Britannica, May 18, 2021.
[6] "Viola Meynell Letters." Boston College, John J. Burns Library, Archives and Manuscripts Department, MS.1986.035.
[7] Hope, Joan. "L.H. Myers." Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2021.
[8] Creswell, Sophia. "Myers, Leopold Hamilton (1881-1944), novelist." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, September 23, 2004.