Eleanor Eden – författare

Emily Eden's childhood prepared her well for her role as companion to her brother, the Governor-General of India. Outwardly all that a minor aristocrat should be, the observant and sharp-tongued Eden (1797-1869) never censored her letters for the sake of diplomacy. This two-volume collection of letters, edited by her niece Eleanor Eden, was published posthumously in 1872 after the success of her 1866 collection, Up the Country (also reissued in this series). Volume 1 begins in England, with an account of preparations (including lessons in Hindi) for the voyage and subsequent seven-year stay in India, about which Emily was originally apprehensive. In spite of suffering from the heat (and from considerable boredom at her formal duties as Lord Auckland's hostess) she produces a series of light-hearted and engaging letters to friends and family, from 'At Sea, Nowhere in Particular' to the Governor-General's palatial residence in Calcutta.

Emily Eden's childhood prepared her well for her role as companion to her brother, the Governor-General of India. Outwardly all that a minor aristocrat should be, the observant and sharp-tongued Eden (1797-1869) never censored her letters for the sake of diplomacy. This two-volume collection of letters, edited by her niece Eleanor Eden, was published posthumously in 1872 after the success of her 1866 collection, Up the Country (also reissued in this series). In Volume 2, which also contains several letters from Emily's sister Frances (1801-49), the round of engagements, days in an opulent houseboat, and biting observations on Anglo-Indian society, continue, but the generally cheerful tone begins to darken: 'It is very odd that no letters whatever have come from Cabul for three weeks, but the reports are all favourable' she notes, at the outset of the disastrous Anglo-Afghan War, which led to her brother's dismissal from India.