The Making of a Mystic
About the Book
Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) achieved international fame in 1911 with the publication of her book Mysticism. In the course of her long career she published nearly forty books, including three novels and three volumes of poetry, as well as numerous poems in periodicals. She was the religion editor for Spectator, a friend of T. S. Eliot (her influence is visible in his last masterpiece, Four Quartets), and the first woman invited to lecture on theology at Oxford University.In time for the centennial celebration of her classic Mysticism, this volume of Underhill's letters will enable readers and researchers to follow her as she reconciled her beliefs with her daily life. The letters reveal her personal and theological development and clarify the relationships that influenced her life and work. Drawing from collections previously unknown to scholars, this volume demonstrates an exceptional range and scope, including Underhill's earliest letters from boarding school to her mother, correspondence with Sir James Frazier and Nobel Prize laureate Rabindranath Tagore, and a letter written to T. S. Eliot from what was to be her deathbed in London in 1941 as the London Blitz raged around her.
About the Author
Carol Poston is a professor emerita of English and coordinator of women's studies at Saint Xavier University, Chicago. She is the editor of Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Letters Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.Reviews
"[Underhill] reminds us how Christian women of the last century were able to exercise intellectual influence and unofficial leadership with faithfulness and love."--Commonweal"An engaging book."--Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction
Blurbs
"This correspondence reveals the intimate Evelyn Underhill--friend, spiritual guide, wife, pacifist--whose life spanned the age of Victoria through the horrors of two global wars. These letters serve as a companion piece to Underhill's pioneering books on mysticism and the spiritual life and explore the making of this foremother of contemporary spirituality. Carol Poston has retrieved a treasure for all of us."--Dana Greene, author of Evelyn Underhill: Artist of the Infinite Life
"Evelyn Underhill's public voice was strong and confident, often choosing language from the middle of the road, while her private writings often reveal tremendous insecurities and perspectives from the margins. These letters are a rich resource for those of us who study Underhill's life and writings."--Todd E. Johnson, coauthor of Performing the Sacred: Theology and Theatre in Dialogue
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