Eliot After The Waste Land

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The second volume of Robert Crawford's biography of the revolutionary modernist poet offers a compelling portrait of one of the twentieth century's most significant literary figures. Building on the foundation laid in the first volume, this installment utilizes extensive new sources, including previously sealed letters that illuminate Eliot's long love affair with Emily Hale. This biography covers Eliot's life after the publication of "The Waste Land," detailing his evolution as a world-renowned writer and the complexities of his inner life. It chronicles his experiences as a weary bank employee, the emotional challenges of the 1920s and 1930s, and his role as a firewatcher during bombed wartime London. Crawford examines the events that inspired some of Eliot's greatest works, including his religious conversion, his tenure at Faber and Faber, and his relationships, notably his troubled marriage to Vivien Haigh-Wood and his later happiness with Valerie Fletcher. The author presents Eliot not merely as a literary icon but as a multifaceted individual—husband, lover, widower, banker, editor, playwright, and publisher—struggling to create art amid personal turmoil.