A Stiff-Necked Generation: A Victorian Morality [Paperback]

'An involving and affecting work... Tilby's ability to breathe life into his scenes and characters transcends notions of fashion.' --The Guardian

'A richly evocative curio from another age... offering a searing insight into family troubles. A fascinating story... as personal, honest and revealing as if we were reading a private letter from Wyatt Tilby himself.' --The Herald

A. Wyatt Tilby (1880 1948) was a journalist and author of history and philosophy by profession. As a child his surrogate parents were informed that his health was such that he was unlikely to live beyond childhood, and consequently he was deprived of a formal education. 'A Stiff-Necked Generation', written in 1920 during a period of convalescence from presumed TB, was never published in the author's lifetime for fear of offending his family upon which it is based. Spanning three generations, from the marriage of his grandfather to his own development from neglected child to independent adult, the picture he paints is of a disharmonious family, blighted by sibling rivalries and philosophical differences. In particular, he contrasts his own passion for learning and experience with his uncle's lust for money and power. Set predominantly in Victorian London, moving through Holborn, Tooting, Wimbledon and Shoreditch, this beautifully written autobiographical novel offers a rare and authentic insight into a bygone age and the enduring nature of the human condition. All the profits from the sale of 'A Stiff-Necked Generation' will be donated to biomedical research into ME.

A. Wyatt Tilby was born in Addiscombe, Surrey on 1st April, 1880. Despite his lack of a formal education, he had a successful career as an author and journalist. When suspected TB left him with a permanently deformed hip, he was forced to redirect his literary attentions from history to philosophy. Married to Kathleen for thirty-nine years, he had three children and eight grandchildren. His published works include: The English People Overseas Vol I VI, Francis Griffiths/Constable (1908 1914); The Evolution of Consciousness, T. Fisher Unwin Ltd (1922); The Quest of Reality, William Heinemann Ltd (1927); Lord John Russell, Cassell & Company (1930); and Right, A Study in Physical and Moral Order, Williams and Norgate (1933).