Buried Treasure
Peter Parker on Mollie Panter-Downes's 'At The Pines'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.There are many biographies I admire, but the one I love above all is Mollie Panter-Downes's At The Pines (1971). I had no particular interest in the poet AC Swinburne, or in Theodore Watts-Dunton (who has?), and so picked up and put down this joint biography several times in second-hand bookshops before buying it. After a productive and highly rackety early life, the alcoholic Swinburne was taken by Watts-Dunton to suburban Putney to spend his remaining years in blameless cohabitation at No 2, The Pines. Here, in a neat reversal of one of his most notorious couplets, he exchanged the roses and raptures of vice for the lilies and languors of virtue. This did nothing for his poetry, but it probably saved his life. Reading this wonderfully evocative book is like opening the front of a dolls' house to reveal the intricate detail inside. We peep into every room, and it is as if we can run our fingers along the furniture, hear the household noises, even smell the roast mutton. Panter-Downes produced a masterpiece that is sympathetic, beautifully written, and very funny indeed.
Peter Parker's biography of Christopher Isherwood is published by Picador
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments