A Great Task of Happiness: The Life of Kathleen Scott
This is Louisa Young’s biography of her grandmother. Famous for being the widow of Captain Scott of the Antarctic, Kathleen was also a talented professional sculptor who studied in Paris with Rodin. She led an excpetionally adventurous and unusual life for a woman of her time, and made friends with people as diverse as Bernard Shaw, Fritjof Nansen, the WW1 Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and dancer Isadora Duncan. Her sons were Sir Peter Scott the naturalist and writer, and politician Wayland Young, Lord Kennet. The biography is based on diaries Kathleen started in 1910 for Scott to read on his return; after his death she continued writing them, covering politics, exploration, art and her friends and family.
Kathleen makes a cameo appearance in Louisa’s best-selling novel ‘My Dear I Wanted to Tell You’.
From the press:
Kathleen Scott died in 1947, famous for being an explorer’s widow rather than a formidably gifted sculptress. This fascinating, racy book should set the record straight, presenting her as a personality in her own right and an artist to boot’
Beryl Bainbridge, The Spectator
Her life was one with depth, richness and resonance – worth writing and worth reading about’
Martin Gayford, Sunday Telegraph
It is impossible to put this book down… A woman of large horizons [Kathleen Scott] gallops through these pages unforgettably, large in character and spirit
Source here
An enthralling life
Flora Fraser, The Times
Written with the brio of a latterday Mitford
Miranda Seymour, the Independent
From a reader
This biography of Kathleen Bruce is a loving testament by a granddaughter to her gifted independent, almost outrageous grandmother. It is probably the most riveting biography I have ever read. Very well researched and positively delightful to read. The enthralling adventures of this adventurous but very serious-minded woman are so fascinating. Every modern young woman who wishes to lead an independent life and engage in a serious profession should read this book. It is truly inspirational
Published by Macmillan, 1995 (out of print, but available second hand)
Reissued by Hydraulic Press of London
Buy it here