{"product_id":"tea-with-mr-rochester","title":"Tea with Mr Rochester","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"std\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 500px;\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/7642\/5795\/files\/1_2.jpg?v=1593106961\u0026amp;width=700\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"redtext\"\u003eAFTERWORD BY FRANCES THOMAS\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e184pp\u003cbr\u003eISBN 9781903155349\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eTea with Mr Rochester\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e is by a writer who never had a book published in her lifetime. But when these captivating, unusual and at times bizarre short stories appeared posthumously in 1949, reviewers were unanimous in their praise. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAngus Wilson wrote in the \u003cem\u003eNew Statesman,\u003c\/em\u003e 'It appears no exaggeration to say that Frances Towers's death in 1948 may have robbed us of a figure of more than purely contemporary significance. At first glance one might be disposed to dismiss Miss Towers as an imitation Jane Austen, but it would be a mistaken judgment, for her cool detachment and ironic eye are directed more often than not against the sensible breeze that blasts and withers...  Moving in a world that is confined to the villages of the Home Counties or to the area around Cheyne Walk in London, straying only once into Bayswater in deprecation, and writing in a subtle, allusive, but formal style.. Miss Towers flashes and shines now this way, now that, like a darting sunfish.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMeanwhile, 'at her best her prose style is a shimmering marvel,' was the view of the \u003cem\u003eIndependent on Sunday\u003c\/em\u003e, 'and few writers can so deftly and economically delineate not only the outside but the inside of a character…There's always more going on than you can possibly fathom.' And the \u003cem\u003eGuardian\u003c\/em\u003e commented: 'Her social range may not be wide, but her descriptions are exquisite and her tone poised between the wry and the romantic.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFive of the stories were read on BBC Radio 4.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEndpaper\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"endpaper-caption\"\u003eA 1949 design for a block-printed cretonne designed by the late Humphrey Spender, who very kindly allowed this fabric in his collection to be photographed for us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"endpaper-caption\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePicture Caption\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"endpaper-caption\"\u003eThe George (1932) by John Kynnersley Kirby at Leamington Spa\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Frances Towers","offers":[{"title":"None","offer_id":54098763350323,"sku":"twp1789694461528","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tissue\/Endpaper","offer_id":54098763383091,"sku":"dem1789694461529","price":37.44,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cambridge Imprint paper","offer_id":54098763415859,"sku":"qaz1789694461530","price":31.11,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Reusable fabric napkin","offer_id":54098763448627,"sku":"tel1789694461531","price":42.21,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0989\/0578\/4627\/files\/tea-with-mr-rochester_1.jpg?v=1789694465","url":"https:\/\/sandstepclad.shop\/products\/tea-with-mr-rochester","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}