Our book club editor Jacqueline Steward reviews The Three Lives of Dylan Thomas, the new book from Hilly Janes, who is a seasoned journalist and friend of BritMums. The book, about the poet Dylan Thomas, is timed to coincide with and celebrate the centenary of his birth this year.
Reading The Three Lives of Dylan Thomas by Hilly Janes takes you on a massive journey through Thomas’ short, eventful life and his cultural legacy. He died in New York in 1953 aged 39 where he is still regarded with great reverence. With strong connections to the Thomas family through Janes’s father’s friendship with Thomas from an early age in Swansea, the author gives a crystal clear picture of what it must have been like struggling as a poet (Thomas) and an artist (her father Alfred Janes) during the Thirties in Swansea and London.
The book contains some of Janes’s beautiful, cherubic portraits of Thomas and the arts circle they moved in. Her descriptions shed clear light on his complex life.
The Three Lives of Dylan Thomas is a great read. It doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to his complex life with his wife, Caitlin Macnamara (neither of them come out of it well) or his alcohol dependence and the reasons behind it. The struggle between writing rich, visual poetry and plays with colourful characters and his role as an outstanding performance artist for live and audio recordings was years ahead of other literary figures. Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and now Michael Sheen and Rhys Ifans all queuing up to take roles speaks volumes about the love felt for his work. Before his death, Collected Poems had sold 10000 copies, a phenomenal feat. Most publishers then would consider 300 a success. It made me want to start reading his poetry. Loved it.
You can find out more about the Dylan Thomas centenary, organised by his grand-daughter, Hannah Eliis www.dylanthomas100.org.
The Three Lives of Dylan Thomas by Hilly Janes
Published by www.therobsonpress.com
@TheRobsonPress £18.99
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