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Kelly, Linda

Linda Kelly wrote a number of books on eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century subjects including Women of the French Revolution, Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Holland House.

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20210901100054 Reynolds Stone wood engraving, Rachel Kelly-on the consolation of poetry, SF Issue 71

Poetry, My Mother and Me

Rachel Kelly on the consolation of poetry

My mother Linda Kelly was a historian and lover of the eighteenth century, with biographies of Sheridan, Tom Moore and Talleyrand to her name. Though I studied history at university, when it comes to my own writing, my subject matter has been rather different – books on mental health and wellbeing, including a memoir about my own expe­rience of depression, and a cookbook about eating with your mood in mind. But we had one literary overlap: I have always loved poetry and so did she. I think we both found it easier to communicate through the words of others. Poetry was our common ground.
20170901171158 Michael Godfrey, Illustration - Linda Kelly on Charlotte M. Yonge, The Little Duke

The Big-hearted Little Duke

Linda Kelly on Charlotte M. Yonge, The Little Duke

Richard of Normandy, the hero of Charlotte Mary Yonge’s The Little Duke, is only 8 when the story begins. I must have been about the same age when I first read it and some of its scenes, with their rugged Norman settings, have remained with me ever since. My children loved it too, but when I came across it again the other day I wondered if I dared reread it. Would it be too moralistic, too old-fashioned? Why disturb my childhood memories? I soon found I needn’t have worried. The Little Duke is as exciting and moving as ever. And it is amazing how much historical knowledge the simply told story conveys.

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