Description

Sir Alfred Munnings, retiring President of the Royal Academy, chooses the 1949 Annual Banquet to launch a savage attack on Modern Art. The effect of his diatribe is doubly shocking, leaving not only his distinguished audience gasping but also many people tuning in to the BBC’s live radio broadcast. But as he approaches the end of his assault, the speech suddenly dissolves into incoherence when he stumbles over a name – a name he normally takes such pains to avoid – that takes him back forty years to a special time and a special place.

Summer in February is a disturbing and moving re-creation of a celebrated Edwardian artistic community enjoying the last days of a golden age soon to be shattered by war. As resonant and understated as The Go-Between, it is a love story of beauty, deprivation and tragedy.

Publisher Review

an engrossing and surprisingly dark novel... SUNDAY TELEGRAPH This is a book rich in incident and richer still in its subtle and intricate analysis of emotional depths. It is also a meticulous re-creation of artistic life near the beginning of this century. THE TIMES Imaginative. DAILY MIRROR Subtle and affecting, a tender Edwardian love story. GOOD HOUSEKEEPING