Salley
Vickers
was born in Liverpool in 1948. She
was brought up in Stoke-on-Trent and London. She read English Literature at Cambridge University. Following this, she taught English
literature at Stanford, Oxford and the Open University. She has also taught ancient literature
in adult education classes. She
then trained as an analytical psychologist, and specialised in helping people
who are creatively blocked and those with eating disorders. She gave up her psychoanalytic work in
2002. She has 2 sons from her
first marriage. In 2002, her
second marriage, to the Irish writer and broadcaster Frank Delaney, also broke
up. Her first novel, “Miss
Garnet’s Angel” was a huge success when it was published in 2000, and was
praised by Joanna Trollope, Penelope Fitzgerald, and Anita Brookner, amongst
others. Her second novel, “The
Instances of the Number 3” came out in 2001, followed by “Mr
Golightly’s Holiday” in 2003.
Salley Vickers has written several other novels: “The Other
Side of You” (2006), “Sweet and Comfortable Words” (2006), and “Nice ’n’
Easy” (2007).
Miss Garnet’s Angel
– our
review
Instances
of the Number 3 – our review
The Other Side
of You – published in April 2006.
Sweet
and Comfortable Words – publishing date of 2008.
Nice ‘n’ Easy –
publishing date of 2007.
Mrs.
Radinsky – a short story that Salley Vickers wrote for “The Observer”
The Spirit of Things –
Salley Vickers talks about “Miss Garnet’s Angel” for an Australian radio
programme in 2005
Salley
Vickers: Angels’ Delight – Salley Vickers talks to Claire Colvin of “The
Independent” in 2003
Focus:
The new creatives – a best-selling novelist in middle age – Salley Vickers
talks Nicholas Pyke of “The Independent on Sunday” in 2003
Do
you recognise this book? Well,
thousands of you are buying it – Salley Vickers talks to Pete Clark of “The
Evening Standard” in 2000.
Meet the Author –
watch Salley Vickers talk about “Miss Garnet’s Angel”, and you can also watch
videos for “Mr.
Golightly’s Holiday” and “Instances of the
Number 3”
Open
Book – listen to Salley Vickers talk about “The Other Side of You” in this
BBC Radio 4 interview
“Instances of the Number 3” –
our reading guide to the novel
Bertrand
Russell - this website also mentions the Bertrand Russell quote at the
beginning of the novel
Wandsworth Cemetery - is the cemetery mentioned on
p.1
Womanfully -
Salley Vickers uses this word on p. 5, but she's not the first writer to use it
Love for Sale - was written by Cole Porter (see p.
9)
Turnham
Green - p. 15 - see more about the battle
King of
Shreds and Patches - a definition p.17
Working
like a Trojan - p. 21
Afton Water by
Roberts Burns - is the source of the quote on p. 21
Consider the
Lilies of the Field - confirms that these probably were anemones - see
p. 44
A E
Houseman - bio - see p.46
A
E Houseman: A Shropshire Lad
Madonna with the
Goldfinch - perhaps the most famous picture of the Virgin with the
Goldfinch was painted by Raphael - perhaps a subtle reminder of Miss Garnet's
Angel? see p.55
Proverbs of Hell by William Blake - is the source of
the "A fool sees not the same tree..." quote p. 64
Bar-tailed
Godwit - more about this bird p. 83
The
Lake Isle of Innisfree by Yeats - see p. 100
Sea Coast of
Bohemia - Shakespeare's famous error p. 101
The Cold
Heaven by Yeats is the source of the "rook-delighting
Heaven" quote p. 101
Rumer Godden:
the Novelist who wanted to be ignored - see more about the author of
The Greengage Summer p. 116
Gloam -
a definition p. 118
St.
Patrick's Purgatory - more about it p. 119
Unhouseled -
a definition p. 120
Irish
Jewish Museum - Youghal really did have the first Jewish Mayor in
Ireland, William Annyas p.123
Porpentine – is a porcupine p. 123
Peter, Peter,
Pumpkin Eater - the rhyme p. 128
The
Brompton Oratory - see p. 128
The
Virgin and Child with St. Anne by Leonardo Da Vinci - see p. 132
Art
and Poetry - a poem featuring the Da Vinci smile of St Anne by Clifton
Snider
Ludlow
Castle - when reading the promotional literature for Ludlow Castle,
one could argue that Salley Vickers quotes too much. Certainly the
passage on p. 142 "chunky Silurian limestone" is almost exactly the
same text as featured on this webpage, whose authors are definitely not quoting
Salley Vickers!
Spring by
Gerard Manley Hopkins is the source of the "Thrush's eggs look like
little low heavens" quote p. 145
Lovely Rita Meter
Maid - the lyrics of the song by the Beatles p. 158
What
if this present by John Donne - mentions some of his "past
mistresses" p. 169
Donne's
Holy Sonnets and Biography
Sonnet 13 -
"profane mistresses"
Michelangelo
Antonioni - a bio p. 170
amanensis -
a definition p. 171
Peggy
Seeger - a brief bio p. 179
Purgatory
- Cardinal Wiseman was the author of the "Sweet is the consolation of
the dying man" quote p. 204
Cardinal
Wiseman - a bio
Matthew
Arnold - a bio see p. 230
The
Woman Taken in Adultery - a discussion of Rembrandt's painting - see
p. 239
Christ and the
Woman Taken in Adultery - a closer look at the picture
When you
are Old and Grey by W B Yeats - is the source of the "When you
are old and grey and full of sleep" quote p. 244
Iolanthe
Discussion - "nothing venture, nothing win" is from Gilbert
and Sullivan p. 254
"The long Purples" quote is indeed from Hamlet
p.255
Purple
Loosestrife - see p. 256
Brass
Monkey - origins of the phrase p. 257
Fire and Ice
by Robert Frost - is the source of the "Some say the world will
end in fire" quote
King Lear - is the source of the "difference of
man and man" quote p. 277
Sonnet
60 - is the source of the "our minutes hasten" quote p. 283
Hamlet - it's the Player King who says "To pay
ourselves what to ourselves is debt" p. 293
Hamlet -
is also the source of the "Use every man after his desert" quote p.
305
“Miss Garnet's Angel” - below
is a series of links related to the novel:
Epiphany -
a definition - the first hint of the 3 Magi in the book
Mademoiselle
from Armentieres - p. 4 - be warned, some of these versions are far
more vulgar than that in the book!
From the Zattere to to
Piazzale Roma - p.9 - an internet tour of Venice that takes in the
church of Angelo Raffaele
Hotel
Gritti Palace - p.9 - sheer luxury
Campo Angelo
Raffaele - p. 11 - according to this webpage, the place that Miss
Garnet stays at is quite rundown
Stanfords
of Covent Garden p. 16 - their webpage
Twelfth
Night Programme Notes - mentions this traditional English festival and
the Lord of Misrule p. 23
Chiesa
dell'Angelo Raffaele - p.28 you wanna see some pictures of Tobias and
the Angel by Gianantonio Guardi?
The
Marriage of Tobias - more about this painting and the artist
The Angel
appears to Tobias - in more detail
When the Sun
rises p. 29 - this is indeed a Blake quote
To
the eye of a Miser a Guinea is more beautiful than the Sun - p. 30 -
is another quote from William Blake, as this page reveals, from his letter to
the Reverend John Trusler - see next webpage too.
William
Blake - p. 34 the "I see an Innumerable company of the Heavenly
host crying" quote comes from Blake's 'A Vision of the Last
Judgement'. This is where Miss Garnet abandons Reverend Crystal
St Mark's Basilica -
gives an indication of how much of the Basilica was stolen p. 35
Caffe Florian p.
36 the scene of Julia and Carlo's first socializing
Courtauld Institute
of Art - visit the webpage
The
Gift - p. 39 tells us why the Magi brought Jesus Gold, Frankincense,
and myrrh
The Book of Tobias
- p. 41 - read the actual book from the Old Testament
Examples
of Chastity in the Bible: Tobit, Tobias and the Angel - Miss Garnet is
also chaste
The
Venetian School p. 47 to which Bassano, Longhi, Vivarini, and
Carpaccio belong
Il Sogno di
S. Orsola by Carpaccio p. 48 is the cover picture from the novel, but
looks far brighter here
Saint
Ursula and her companions - a model for Miss Garnet perhaps?
Miss Garnet is just as chaste as Ursula
Ursula - was
a teacher too
Saint
Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins
The
Dream of Saint Ursula - a much more familiar view of Carpaccio's
painting, with details of the story behind it
Peggy
Guggenheim Collection, Venice
The
Angel of the City - this is the statue that makes Miss Garnet blush
Venice in Peril -
the homepage has a review of Miss Garnet's Angel, but one can only conclude
that the Chapel-of-the-Plague must be fiction p. 54
Raphael -
his name does mean 'God's Healing' p. 55
Tell it
not in Gath - the derivation of the phrase p. 60
House of the Camel -
see a picture of the actual house p. 66
Tintoretto's
Parish Church - p. 66
Man
in a Blue Sleeve by Titian p. 87 - the picture
The
'Foxy-whiskered gentleman' - a picture
Facts
from History about our King James Bible - see p.88 - 'Translated out
of the original tongues' etc.
Samuel Plimsoll -
his life p. 89
The
Plimsoll Line - p. 90
The Destruction
of the Sennacherib by Lord Bryon - is the source of the 'wolf on the
fold' quote
The
Apocrypha: Why it's part of the Bible
Archangels -
p. 93 - the names of the seven holy angels
Saint
George and the Dragon by Carpaccio - see p. 101
St.
Raphael the Archangel - or Azarias p. 130
A dog will return to
his vomit - p. 131 is a quote from Peter
Holy Prophet
Daniel - p. 133 Ananias and Azarias were amongst Daniel's circle of
friends
Tintoretto:
The Last Judgement - the picture from p. 149
John
Ruskin - this bio mentions that his marriage to Euphemia Gray was
never consummated p. 150
Doge di
Venezia - p. 152 the Jewish ghetto in Venice
The Grateful Dead
FAQ: How did they get the name? - p. 154 - the rock band got their
name from the story of 'The Grateful Dead' too
The Ottaviani
intervention - p. 170 - more about Cardinal Ottaviani
Garnet -
the story of the stone p.171
Isolation -p.
175 discusses the derivation of 'ghetto'
The Sound of
Music - how faithful was the film to the real story of the Von Trapp
family? p. 178
The
Bellini Madonna - see p. 186
Vivaldi
– more on him p. 187
Pederast -
a definition
Meditations
in time of Civil War by W. B. Yeats - is the source of the 'We are
closed in and the key is turned on our uncertainty' quote p. 191
Honorary
Degree Awarded to Peter Boizot - the President of Pizza Express who
created the Pizza Veneziana p. 201
Anti-Semitism
in The Merchant of Venice - see p. 206
Asmodeus -
p. 222 more about this demon
Apocryphal -
p. 250 a definition
Survivors through
History - p. 255 more about the four eyed dog and the
Parsi/Zoroastrian religion. Note the similarity between the Jewish and
Parsi belief about the soul leaving the body 4 days after death. Note also that
Parsis are insistent on marrying within the community (Tobias having first
refusal of his first cousin's hand did seem very curious to me on first
reading, and this may be a Parsi tradition)
Grateful
Dead Parable - p. 270 mentions the link with the book of Tobit
Zoroastrian
Funeral Ceremonies - p. 280 mentions the Nasu and the four-eyed dogs
Moses
and Reuel - this site mentions the Abraham quote p. 283 'I am a
sojourner and a stranger'. Abraham was looking for a burial place for his
wife
Archangel Raphael
- does Salley Vickers follow the sequence oof feasts in the book from
Epiphany? Yes, she does - see p. 321
Information
on Garum - see p. 306
The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom - source of the quote on
p. 308
New American Bible:
Tobit - the sort of translation that might horrify Miss Garnet, but it
does have useful notes
The Backslider
in Heart - see p. 308
What
exactly are Magi? - p.308
Notebook -
p. 308 does say that Raghes is very close to Tehran
Rich
as Croesus - p. 312
David
and Absolom - see p. 317
Saint
Mark - p. 325 was the Mark who let Saint Barnabas and Saint Paul down,
which is probably why the Monsignore says he was cowardly
Thomas
Traherne: His Search for Felicity - maybe Thomas Traherne is the
inspiration for Vickers' choice of surname for Sara and Toby p. 335
Ut mihi contingat tuo beneficio post mortem vivere -
p. 335 - I think this comes from the Satyricon of Petronius, and may mean 'that
by your good help I may live on even after death'. The passage seems to
fit, seeing that it's a scene concerning a will and an epitaph and I realise
that I've just wasted fifteen minutes of my life, since the translation is on
p. 337. Does Miss Garnet really expect the readers of her will to be
fluent in Latin?
The
Septuagint - more details p. 339
The
Written word -p. 339 discusses the Book of Tobit, has a picture of a
fragment of the Book of Tobit from the Dead Sea scrolls, and mentions the
oldest know version of the tale, and St. Jerome's tail wagging translation
Aesma Daeva -
p. 341 - according to this page, this demon is derived from both Hebrew and
Persian mythologies
Zoroastrianism -
mentions the 'Bounteous Immortals'
Zoroastrianism -
mentions Sraosha
The
Light of the Sacred Fire - says Sraosha is not one of the 'Bounteous
Immortals', but is explicitly described as an angel
Sraosha, the
ever-watchful Guardian
Sraosha in
Life, Sraosha in Death
Rashnu -
this page mentions that a fair maiden leads the saved over the Bridge of
Separation, which gives you a fair idea of how intricately plotted this novel
is
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