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The Ballad and the Source

  • Author
    • Rosamond Lehmann
Format
Regular price £10.99
Regular price Sale price £10.99

Anticipated publication date

Jun 11, 2026

We will deliver the product within a reasonable period of time following the publication date

The publication date is an estimated date only and is subject to change.

We anticipate that the book will be published on this date. However, should the estimated publication date change for whatever reason, we will notify you within a reasonable period of time.

ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE BRITISH WRITERS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

'The first writer to filter her stories through a woman's feelings and perceptions' ANITA BROOKNER


'I cannot doubt that this is Miss Lehmann's best and most permanent book' RAYMOND MORTIMER

'Unconventional in structure, in characterisation and development of story . . . Unforgettable' NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE

The tale of the unlikely friendship between and an old woman and a young girl. This is one of Rosamond Lehmann's finest novels.

Ten year old Rebecca is living in the country with her family when Sibyl Jardine, an enigmatic and powerful old woman, returns to her property in the neighbourhood. The two families, once linked in the past, meet again, with the result that Rebecca becomes drawn into the strange complications of the old lady's life - with her husband, her errant daughter and her grandchildren. Through the spellbound eyes of the young Rebecca we enter into an intricate and scandalous family history and slowly the story of the passionate, stormy life of Mrs. Jardine unfolds.
  • Published: Jun 11 2026
  • ISBN: 9780349017976
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Press Reviews

  • Kirkus Reviews
    A psychological novel -- keyed to the market of such books as Strange Woman and Leave Her To Heaven but immeasurably beyond them in subtlety and craftsmanship, in nuance and implication . . . An oddly haunting book, expertly handled
  • Raymond Mortimer

    I cannot doubt that this is Miss Lehmann's best and most permanent book
  • New York Herald Tribune
    An exciting adventure in fiction. Unconventional in structure, in characterisation and development of story . . . Unforgettable
  • English PEN

    Lehmann legitimised a type of writing that took on deep personal themes