The Constant Nymph (novel)

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The Constant Nymph
TheConstantNymph.jpg
AuthorMargaret Kennedy
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
PublisherHeinemann
Publication date
1924
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages344 pp
Followed byThe Fool of the Family 

The Constant Nymph is a 1924 novel by Margaret Kennedy. It tells how a teenage girl falls in love with a family friend, who eventually marries her cousin. It explores the protagonists' complex family histories, focusing on class, education and creativity.

Success[]

The novel sold well from its first appearance, becoming the first novel of a genre sometimes called "Bohemian". Much of its success was due to its then-shocking sexual content, describing scenes of adolescent sexuality and of noble savagery in the Austrian Tyrol.

There is a complimentary allusion to the novel in the 1934 detective story The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers. Fifteen-year-old Hilary tells her father she aspires to write novels: "Best sellers. The sort that everybody goes potty over. Not just bosh ones, but like The Constant Nymph."[1] Sayers includes a positive mention by two characters in her 1930 epistolary novel, The Documents in the Case.[2]

Adaptations[]

Main articles: The Constant Nymph (play), The Constant Nymph (1928 film), The Constant Nymph (1933 film), and The Constant Nymph (1943 film)

Margaret Kennedy and Basil Dean adapted The Constant Nymph for a three-act play that was published by Doubleday, Page and Company (Garden City, N.Y.) in 1926. A differently treated, second stage adaptation of the play was published by William Heinemann (London) in 1926.[3] The play was performed on the London stage in 1926 and featured Noël Coward and Edna Best.[4]

The novel was first adapted as a silent film in 1928 by Adrian Brunel and Alma Reville and directed by Brunel and Basil Dean. This version starred Ivor Novello, Mabel Poulton and Benita Hume.[5] It was adapted again in 1933 by Dorothy Farnum and directed by Dean. It featured Victoria Hopper, Brian Aherne and Leonora Corbett.[5] A third film adaptation in 1943 featured Charles Boyer, Joan Fontaine, and Alexis Smith. It was adapted by Kathryn Scola and directed by Edmund Goulding.

References[]

  1. ^ Paperback reissue (London: New English Library, 1968), p. 79.
  2. ^ Extract
  3. ^ 20th-Century American Bestsellers.
  4. ^ "New Theatre", The Times, 15 September 1926, p. 10
  5. ^ a b Life. "Movie of the Week: The Constant Nymph". August 2, 1943. p. 38

External links[]

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