Ticky

Description

'Gibbons proves herself to possess a natural and effortless talent for the burlesque' - Times Literary Supplement 'He wanted very large sums of money, the friendship of titled and distinguished men, the love of beautiful women who were also famous. He was twenty, and his dreams were titanic.' Ticky's father has bought him a position in Queen Victoria's most famous regiment- the First Bloods. Spending his last pennies on lavish accommodation and a fine stallion, Ticky arrives at The Club- the mighty glass towers in central London where the First Bloods reign supreme. Here, dressed in their violet cloth and copper lace, the First Bloods and their regimental servants fight over a portion of recreational ground, row over rituals, and dole out extraordinary punishments. Satirising the pomp of all-male military societies, Ticky was Gibbons' own favourite of her novels. 'Gibbons proves herself to possess a natural and effortless talent for the burlesque' Times Literary Supplement

Stella Gibbons was born in London in 1902. She went to the North London Collegiate School and studied journalism at University College, London. She then worked for ten years on various papers, including the Evening Standard. Stella Gibbons is the author of twenty-five novels, three volumes of short stories, and four volumes of poetry. Her first publication was a book of poems, The Mountain Beast (1930) and her first novel Cold Comfort Farm (1932) won the Femina Vie Heuruse Prize for 1933. Among her works are Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm (1940) Westwood (1946), Conference at Cold Comfort Farm (1959) and Starlight (1967). She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950. In 1933 she married the actor and singer Allan Webb. They had one daughter. Stella Gibbons died in 1989.

Stella Gibbons's gift is very special * Daily Express * [Gibbons] has not only charm but something far better, perspicacity -- Elizabeth Bowen * Tatler * [Gibbons has] a marvellous eye for the social scene - no-one is more accurate -- John Braine, author of Room at the Top