Anthony Lyveden is a 1921 adventure novel by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer). It was first published in monthly instalments in The Windsor Magazine. The book was Mercer's first attempt at a full-length novel, and was succeeded by Valerie French which continued the story of the main characters.
Plot Anthony Lyveden DSO, a destitute ex-officer, is forced to take a job as a footman at the Gramarye estate. The estate's owner, Colonel Winchester, becomes mad and leaves Lyveden in charge under a power of attorney. The situation drives Lyveden himself to madness.
Background
The author was not a happy man at the time, his father having committed suicide early in 1921, and Mercer's biographer AJ Smithers reports a suggestion that at this date he was not far from suffering a nervous breakdown. He defied The Windsor Magazine'''s tradition that every episode should end with a lovers' meeting, though he was pressed hard by the magazine's editor.
Chapters + Chapter Book Title Windsor Title Date Volume Issue Pages Illustrator I The Way Of A Man In The First Place January 1921 LIII 313 101-116 Norah Schlegel II The Way Of A Maid In The Second Place February 1921 LIII 314 205-220 Norah Schlegel III The Voice Of The Turtle In The Third Place March 1921 LIII 315 311-324 Norah Schlegel IV The Golden Bowl Livery Of Seisin April 1921 LIII 316 411-425 Norah Schlegel V An High Look And A Proud Heart A Month's Wages May 1921 LIII 317 517-531 Norah Schlegel VI The Comfort Of Apples Gramarye June 1921 LIV 318 3-16 Norah Schlegel VII Nehustan Grey Matter July 1921 LIV 319 109-124 Norah Schlegel VIII The Power Of The Dog Ex-Parte Motions August 1921 LIV 320 223-239 Norah Schlegel IX Vanity Of Vanities The Return Of The Spirit September 1921 LIV 321 337-355 Norah Schlegel
Illustrations
The illustrations from the Windsor stories by Norah Schlegel (1879-1963) were not included in the book version.
Critical reception Smithers considered Anthony Lyveden to be a book of varying quality, and too episodic to be truly called a novel. He criticised the characterisations, suggesting that a reader might with some justice think the hero a pompous prig, one of the young women a humourless, suspicious creature, and the other a trollop manquée''.
References
Bibliography