Hazel: Life of Lady Lavery, 1880-1935 - Hardcover

McCoole, Sinead

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1874675848 ISBN 13: 9781874675846

Publisher: The Lilliput Press Ltd, 1996

Synopsis

This biography tells the story of Hazel Lavery, one of London's most influential and beautiful women in the 1920s, a popular society hostess and fervent supporter of Ireland's independence. It details her birth into a wealthy Chicago family, her study of art and her marriage to the artist John Lavery, 24 years her senior. It goes on to examine the Laverys' life in London, where they became popular and entertained many celebrated figures, including Asquith, Bernard Shaw, Churchill, T.P. O'Connor, Beresford, and Shane Leslie, and later by Ramsey MacDonald and Evelyn Waugh. The work chronicles Hazel's assistance of the Irish national cause, using her house in London to play informal host to the Anglo-Irish Conference (1921). By the time of Hazel's death in 1935, the diplomatic links which she had fought to establish had been dismantled by de Valera, and she died believing her life had been utterly without purpose. This biography reveals the restless life of Hazel Lavery to be a pioneering one, drawing on interviews with her acquaintances and her daughter, Alice, and a cache of private correspondence and scrapbooks.

About this title

Review

'[Hazel's] importance in Irish history is established by this book ... a memorable portrait.' Roy Foster, The Independent

About the Author

Sinead McCoole is a historian, curator and broadcaster. Her books include Guns and Chiffon (Dublin 1997), No Ordinary Women: Irish Female Activists 1900-1923 (Dublin 2003) and Easter Widows (Dublin 2014). She was appointed to the Government's Expert Advisory Group on the Decade of Centenaries in 2012.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Lilliput Press Ltd
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1874675848
• ISBN 13: 9781874675846
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 296