Field of Clover — Laurence Housman

Laurence Housman was born in 1965, the younger brother of British Poet Laureate A.E. Housman. He lived for most of his life with his sister Clemence, also an author, and a talented engraver -- it is Clemence to whom Housman's 1898 book of short stories, The Field of Clover, is dedicated. A prolific, gifted writer, Housman is best-remembered today for his plays, including an adaptation of Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield, and the enduringly-popular Prunella, or Love in a Dutch Garden. Housman also wrote an impassioned defense of Oscar Wilde, emphasizing Wilde's literary talent, and his right to a self-directed life. The Field of Clover is a collection of fairy tales that are reminiscent of Wilde's aesthetic. Housman's initial success came with his 1900 novel, the at-first anonymously-published An Englishwoman's Love Letters -- likely a great inspiration for later romantic, epistemological novels that remain popular today. He lived a long life, losing his sister Clemence in 1955, he died in 1959 at age 93 in Glastonbury.