“Dreams of Impossible Pangs” by Anthea Ingham

Humorous novel about the scandalous life of a poet in the 1860s

About the Book:

Algernon Charles Swinburne, scandalous poet of the mid-1860s whose verses riveted and appalled London, recalls his extraordinary life from the safety of his captivity in Putney under the guardianship of the sinister lawyer and Pre-Raphaelite groupie, Theodore Watts Dunton. His journals find their way into the hands of the critic Edmund Gosse who provides his own surprising perspective on events as Swinburne’s bizarre and sinister relationship with the Pre-Raphaelite painter, Simeon Solomon unfolds. The scene moves from country house to the studios of the Pre-Raphaelites, to France, and back to the underbelly of aristocratic London life, with its involvement in illicit homosexuality, flagellation brothels, sadomasochism, drugs, and even bestiality; anything and everything seethes beneath the ‘respectability’ of Victorian England. This hilarious novel provides a penetrating insight into the seamy side of the 19th century and the life of its most extraordinary and shocking poet.

About the Author:

Anthea Ingham’s last novel, ‘Digby Sherwood’ (2013) took a wry look at the comic and tragic events in the life of a major public school in the 1980s. Her previous novel, ‘Sebastian’s Tangibles’ explored an extraordinary gay love affair between a middle-aged Oxford don and his fatally fascinating student. Anthea recently completed a doctorate on the poets Sappho and Swinburne. She has five children and lives near the Elan Valley in Wales.

Dreams of Impossible Pangs by Anthea Ingham is available in paperback from Amazon UK at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreams-Impossible-Pangs-Anthea-Ingham/dp/0755216245

and the e-book version can be downloaded from:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreams-Impossible-Pangs-Anthea-Ingham-ebook/dp/B00JAKMULI

Press/Media Contact Details:

New Generation Publishing
Tel. 01234 712 064
E-mail: info@newgeneration-publishing.com