Antonia S. Byatt (GB)
The children's book
Chatto & Windus, 2009
Mit ihren Romanen und literaturkritischen Essays ist A. S. Byatt eine der herausragenden Persönlichkeiten der englischen Literatur. Für den literarhistorischen Krimi «Possession» (dt. «Besessen» 1993) wurde sie 1990 mit dem Booker-Preis ausgezeichnet. Ihr Interesse gilt der Biografie von Menschen in ihrer jeweiligen zeitlichen Bedingtheit. Ihr neues Buch «The Children's Book» (2009, dt. 2011) zeichnet das Schicksal einer Generation nach, die im unbeschwerten «Edwardian Age» aufwächst und im 1. Weltkrieg grausam untergeht.
Aus: Antonia S. Byatt. The children's book. Chatto & Windus, 2009
Two boys stood in the Prince Consort Gallery, and looked down on a third. It was June 19th, 1895. The Prince had died in 1861, and had seen only the beginnings of his ambitious project for a gathering of museums in which the British craftsmen could study the best examples of design. His portrait, modest and medalled, was done in mosaic in the tympanum of a decorative arch at one end of the narrow gallery which ran above the space of the South Court. The South Court was decorated with further mosaics, portraits of painters, sculptors, potters, the 'Kensington Valhalla'. The third boy was squatting beside one of a series of imposing glass cases, displaying gold and silver treasures.