1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, A production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky Listener Discretion advised. Catherine Mansfield 3 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: was a prolific writer and critic, packing a great deal 4 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,240 Speaker 1: of work into her short life. Before her death at 5 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,960 Speaker 1: age thirty four in nineteen twenty three, she had written 6 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: dozens of short stories and poems, as well as over 7 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: one hundred pieces of literary criticism. A contemporary and close 8 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:36,599 Speaker 1: friend of Virginia Wolf, Mansfield is widely considered to be 9 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: one of the greatest short story writers of the early 10 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:45,879 Speaker 1: twentieth century, and still one of her most intriguing pieces 11 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 1: of writing came in the form of a very brief, 12 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: very simple letter. Here it is in its entirety, sent 13 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: in March of nineteen twenty one. Dear Princess Bibesca, I'm 14 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: afraid you must stop writing these little love letters to 15 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: my husband while he and I live together. It is 16 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: one of the things which is not done in our world. 17 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: You are very young, won't you ask your husband to 18 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 1: explain to you the impossibility of such a situation. Please 19 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:21,839 Speaker 1: do not make me have to write to you again. 20 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,559 Speaker 1: I do not like scolding people, and I simply hate 21 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 1: having to teach them manners. Yours, sincerely, Catherine Mansfield. It's 22 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: hard to imagine any work of fiction or book review 23 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: coming close to that in terms of sparking interest in 24 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: so few sentences. It's so perfectly eloquent and mean in 25 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: equal measure. I do not like scolding people, and I 26 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: simply hate having to teach them manners perfect It sounds 27 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: like something from a lost Noel Coward play or a 28 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: Miranda Priestly speech that ended up on a cutting room floor, 29 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: But equally intriguing, at least in my mind, is the 30 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: recipient a princess. It's hard to imagine a royal being 31 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 1: the recipient of such elevated and eloquent shade. And so 32 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: who was Princess Elizabeth Bibesco and how did she find 33 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: herself on the wrong side of the early twentieth century literati. 34 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: I'm Danish Schwartz, and this is noble blood. The story 35 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: of Princess Elizabeth Bibesco is not so much a rags 36 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: to riches story, but rather a privilege to more privilege story. 37 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: Her father was h. H Asquith, a man who was 38 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: from more humble beginnings but who rose through the ranks 39 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,639 Speaker 1: of Parliament to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 40 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:56,959 Speaker 1: when Elizabeth was eleven years old. Life as the Prime 41 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:01,919 Speaker 1: Minister's daughter thrust her into the spotlight, and Elizabeth quickly 42 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: grew to love it that way. Her keen intelligence and 43 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: social grace made quite an impression on the adults around her, 44 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: and she was fearless in leveraging her position for the 45 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: greater good as well as for a little extra attention 46 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: of her own. When she was twelve years old, Elizabeth 47 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: enlisted playwright George Bernard Shaw to write a play for 48 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: a charity benefit, which she herself directed. By her teenage years, 49 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: her charm and philanthropy were topics of discussion in national newspapers. 50 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: During World War One, a teenage Elizabeth wrote and performed 51 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: in live shows for the troops. She also organized fundraisers 52 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: to help out with relief efforts. She even acted in 53 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: two silent War movies directed by D. W. Griffith. If 54 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: she were alive today, she would probably be characterized correctly 55 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: as a NEPO baby it girl. Elizabeth quickly became known 56 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: among London high society as a spirited young multi hyphenate 57 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: who as we'd soon see inherited her family's talent for 58 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: social climbing. Antoine Bibesco was a Romanian prince and diplomat who, 59 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,480 Speaker 1: by nineteen eighteen had found himself part of the social 60 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: circle that included Elizabeth's father, Lord Asquith. At the time, 61 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: he was forty years old and in a serious relationship, 62 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,720 Speaker 1: but when he met the dazzling twenty one year old 63 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:44,720 Speaker 1: daughter of the then former Prime Minister, Bibesco's attentions shifted entirely. 64 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: Elizabeth's mother, Margot Asquith, was thrilled by the match. She 65 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: saw in Antoine the kind of continental sophistication her own 66 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:59,680 Speaker 1: family lacked, with breeding that far exceeded those from her 67 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,479 Speaker 1: own family. She also hoped he would have a calming 68 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,360 Speaker 1: effect on her daughter, who'd already packed a lot of 69 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: life into her twenty one years. Elizabeth and Antoine were 70 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:17,800 Speaker 1: married on April twenty ninth, nineteen nineteen, witnessed by a 71 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: who's who of British royalty and culture. Everyone from Queen 72 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 1: Mary to Elizabeth's old collaborator George Bernard Shaw was in attendance. 73 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 1: It was a union that would catapult Elizabeth from the 74 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 1: daughter of a politician into actual European royalty and all 75 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: the glamour that came with it. The newlyweds settled into 76 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: life in Paris, taking up residence in the Bibesco family townhouse. 77 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: It was here that Elizabeth would give birth to their 78 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:56,279 Speaker 1: only child, a girl named Priscilla, in nineteen twenty. It 79 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,599 Speaker 1: was also the place where she would be initiated into 80 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: a world world far more sophisticated than even her privileged 81 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: upbringing had prepared her for. The Bibescoe family moved in 82 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: rarefied circles, their Parisian salon, drawing the most celebrated artists 83 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:21,479 Speaker 1: and writers of the era. At its center was Antoine's mother, 84 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: Helene Bibesco, renowned hostess and patron, who turned their home 85 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:32,480 Speaker 1: into a gathering place for the intellectual elite. Among the 86 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: regular visitors was none other than Marcel Proust, who had 87 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: formed a close friendship with Antoine long before Elizabeth had 88 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: even entered the picture. Preust became utterly enchanted by the 89 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 1: new Princess Bibesco, declaring her to be quote probably unsurpassed 90 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,839 Speaker 1: in intelligence by any of her contemporaries. He was also 91 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:01,239 Speaker 1: taken by her physical beauty, comparing her to a figure 92 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: in an Italian Fresco. The author, a discerning recluse who 93 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: rarely ventured from his home, would make late night visits 94 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: to the Babesco townhouse, discussing literature with Elizabeth and gossiping 95 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 1: with Antoine. Elizabeth had clearly found her footing in this 96 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: world of letters and high society, but not to everyone 97 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 1: in the literary world was quite so taken with the 98 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: vivacious young princess. While she'd mastered the art of captivating 99 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: influential men, she had also begun to make some rather 100 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: powerful enemies of their wives. To understand what would compel 101 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 1: someone to write the scathing letter I read in this 102 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: episode's introduction, Let's take a look at the woman behind 103 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: the pen. By nineteen twenty one, the New Zealand author 104 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 1: Catherine Mansfield had established herself as a strong voice in 105 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: modern literature, dealing with topics like existentialism, sexuality, and her 106 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: relationship to Christianity. She moved to London at age nineteen 107 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: and found herself in the orbit of the Bloomsbury Group. 108 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: Virginia Wolf became a close personal friend, and, like her 109 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: more famous author friend Catherine's personal life was decidedly unconventional. 110 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: She had romantic relationships with both men and women. Like 111 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: many of her age, she struggled with her attraction for women. 112 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:42,559 Speaker 1: By the time her path crossed with Princess Babesco's. Katherine 113 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: Mansfield was married to a man, J. M. Murray, a 114 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: literary editor and critic. Their relationship had been rocky from 115 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,560 Speaker 1: the start they met in nineteen eleven, and by the 116 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: time they finally married in nineteen eighteen, they had gone 117 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:05,079 Speaker 1: through a string of breakups and reconciliations, with both Katherine 118 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:10,199 Speaker 1: and Murray pursuing other lovers during their times apart. They 119 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 1: were the early twentieth century equivalent of that toxic couple 120 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: who couldn't seem to quit each other, as much as 121 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: their friends might have wanted them to. There was also 122 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:26,880 Speaker 1: a third member of their relationship, Catherine's failing health. In 123 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: nineteen seventeen, she had been given a diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis, 124 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 1: and by late nineteen twenty the disease was steadily claiming 125 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:42,319 Speaker 1: more of her strength and mobility. She spent long stretches 126 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:47,360 Speaker 1: away from London seeking treatment in warmer climates, while Murray 127 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: remained at home, ostensibly focused on his job as editor 128 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: of a literary magazine called The Athenaeum. Katherine, isolated by 129 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: illness and sometimes geography, remained emotionally dependent on Murray, even 130 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: as she knew he was incapable of fidelity. Her letters 131 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:12,440 Speaker 1: to him revealed that she clung to an idealized version 132 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: of him even as evidence mounted against her faith. Because 133 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: even though Murray stayed behind for work, he also found 134 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:28,200 Speaker 1: plenty of time for extracurricular activities. That's where Princess Bibesco 135 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: comes in. During this period, Elizabeth Bibesco's own writing career 136 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: was on the rise. She was eager to be recognized 137 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: as a serious literary figure in her own right, a 138 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: drive that started with those preteen stage productions and only 139 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 1: grew stronger over time. This led her directly to J. M. 140 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 1: Murray's orbit when she began submitting stories to The Athenaeum. 141 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 1: What started as a professional relationship quickly became something far 142 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: more personal. It's worth noting that infidelity wasn't exactly foreign 143 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: territory for the Bibesco marriage either. Prince Antoine had already 144 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: earned himself quite a reputation around London as what the 145 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:25,360 Speaker 1: writer and critic Rebecca West memorably called a boudoir athlete. West, 146 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 1: who had her own brief affair with the prince in 147 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:32,160 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty seven, recalled looking around the room at a 148 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: French embassy party and realizing that every woman present had 149 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:41,920 Speaker 1: been Antoine's mistress at one time or another. No doubt, 150 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:47,200 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Bibesco felt entitled to some romantic adventuring of her own. 151 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,959 Speaker 1: But for Catherine Mansfield, watching from her sick bed in 152 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 1: the South of France, the betrayals were becoming impossible to 153 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: ignore or forgive. The situation reached a breaking point in 154 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: December nineteen twenty when Catherine's doctors insisted that for her 155 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: health she stopped the exhausting work of writing reviews for 156 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: her husband's literary magazine. Left with nothing really to distract her, 157 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:22,440 Speaker 1: Catherine's attention turned to Murray's affairs, particularly the one with 158 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Bibesco. Catherine was forced to confront the humiliating reality 159 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: that her husband, in this case, was conducting something much 160 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:37,800 Speaker 1: worse than merely a physical affair. The Princess was positioning 161 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:43,119 Speaker 1: herself as a literary partner, asking for advice and guidance 162 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,200 Speaker 1: in ways that must have felt like a direct attack 163 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 1: on Catherine's own professional relationship with her husband. The final 164 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:58,400 Speaker 1: straw came in early nineteen twenty one, when Catherine intercepted 165 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 1: one of Elizabeth's letters to Murray, a breathless plea begging 166 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: him to quote resist Catherine and reminding him that you 167 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 1: swore nothing on earth should ever come between us. The 168 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: letter revealed not just the depth of the affair, but 169 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Bibesco's apparent belief that she was engaged in some 170 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:25,839 Speaker 1: kind of romantic rescue mission saving Murray from his invalid wife. 171 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: Catherine's response was swift, devastating, and deserved. Let's hear it again, 172 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 1: shall we? It is just almost too good, Dear Princess Bibesco. 173 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,319 Speaker 1: I'm afraid you must stop writing these little love letters 174 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 1: to my husband while he and I live together. It 175 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: is one of the things which is not done in 176 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:52,079 Speaker 1: our world. You are very young, won't you ask your 177 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: husband to explain to you the impossibility of such a situation. 178 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: Please do not make me have to write to you again. 179 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,440 Speaker 1: I do not like scolding people, and I simply hate 180 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: having to teach them manners your sincerely, Katherine Mansfield. Only 181 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 1: a truly gifted writer could have crafted something so glacially 182 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: polite that's also filled with verily contained fury. Clearly, the 183 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 1: Missive was designed to put the passionate young Princess in 184 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: her place, but Catherine wasn't finished. She followed up with 185 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: a second, longer response that revealed even more about the 186 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 1: state of mind and her philosophy about love, arts, and authenticity. 187 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: The aftermath of those letters sent ripples through London's literary circles. 188 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: Virginia Wolf, always one to enjoy a good bit of gossip, 189 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:51,960 Speaker 1: wrote about what she called the Bibesco scandal, with which 190 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: London so they say rings. She described dinners where a 191 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: miserable Murray poured out heart, insisting that his affair with 192 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,360 Speaker 1: Elizabeth meant nothing to him, all the while declaring his 193 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 1: absolute devotion to Catherine. Mansfield meanwhile described the Princess to 194 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:17,040 Speaker 1: William Gerardi, an up and coming novelist, as quote a 195 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 1: most dreadful young person, very very emotional. It's really a 196 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 1: shame we didn't have reality television back then, because this 197 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 1: friend group was churning out vander pump Rule's levels of 198 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: drama For Catherine, the confrontation represented something larger than just 199 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: marital strife. Her isolation and suffering due to her chronic 200 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:45,400 Speaker 1: condition helped to realize what was most important to her writing. 201 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 1: Perhaps her husband's affair with Elizabeth Bibesco wasn't just a 202 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: betrayal to their marriage, but a threat to her entire 203 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 1: literary world. Maybe she found the brazenness of the Princess 204 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 1: just to be a bit of a bridge too far. 205 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 1: Maybe she was repelled by the passion of someone boldly 206 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,040 Speaker 1: declaring what they wanted with no thought given to the 207 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 1: feelings of others. Or maybe she simply didn't care for 208 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:20,800 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Babesco's writing. Regardless of her exact reasons, Katherine Mansfield 209 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: gathered the accumulated fury of her life's misfortunes and aimed 210 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: straight for the Princess. The fact that we have the 211 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: letter at all suggests that she made a copy and 212 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 1: possibly shared it with a close friend or two. I 213 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:41,240 Speaker 1: can certainly understand that, after all, who hasn't sent a 214 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 1: friend screenshots of a particularly juicy text conversation, especially when 215 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: someone is so articulate and so in the right. For 216 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: Katherine mansfield life post letter was spent in search of 217 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: a Hail Mary miracle cure for her tuberculosis. Her final 218 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 1: years became a pilgrimage through alternative therapies and spiritual remedies, 219 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,520 Speaker 1: each one promising what the last had failed to deliver. 220 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,040 Speaker 1: This quest ultimately led her to the Institute for the 221 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:20,879 Speaker 1: Harmonious Development of Man in Fontainebleau, France. This was the 222 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:26,639 Speaker 1: most outlandish place she'd tried yet, a transcendental commune of 223 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:30,920 Speaker 1: sorts under the guru like leadership of a man named 224 00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:37,119 Speaker 1: George Gurjeff, a mystic, spiritual teacher and choreographer. If that 225 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 1: sounds like a cult, well you're not wrong. Her days 226 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: were full of hard labor, with little food and little sleep, 227 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 1: but Catherine was convinced she had found something transformative. Sadly 228 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: she was right, though not in the way she had hoped. 229 00:17:55,960 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: Catherine died of a pulmonary hemorrhage just three months after 230 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:06,480 Speaker 1: arriving at the Institute, sparking an immediate controversy about whether 231 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 1: the Institute's extreme regimen had accelerated her death. She was 232 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:17,159 Speaker 1: just thirty four years old, in a final indignity that 233 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:22,480 Speaker 1: somehow seems fitting for her turbulent relationship, her husband J. M. 234 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:27,520 Speaker 1: Murray forgot to pay her funeral expenses. This resulted in 235 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,879 Speaker 1: Catherine being buried in a pauper's grave before the oversight 236 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,119 Speaker 1: was corrected and her remains could be moved to a 237 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: more suitable resting place. Her death left Murray with the 238 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: considerable task of editing and publishing the mountain of work 239 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 1: she left behind, including two volumes of short stories, a novel, 240 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:54,679 Speaker 1: a collection of poems, and more. In death, Catherine's voice 241 00:18:54,720 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: would reach far more readers than it ever had in life. Meanwhile, 242 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Bibesco was continuing to build a literary career of 243 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 1: her own. In nineteen twenty one, she published her first 244 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: collection of short stories, entitled I Have only Myself to Blame. 245 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: The Princess drew inspiration from the glittering Parisian society she 246 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,880 Speaker 1: now called home, capturing what one critic would later call 247 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:31,199 Speaker 1: the quote buoyant charm, nonchalant wit, and sparkling decor of 248 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:36,399 Speaker 1: a rarefied world. Though others would find her writing superficial, 249 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:41,679 Speaker 1: all glamour and no depth, she was a prolific writer, 250 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:46,879 Speaker 1: publishing novels, plays, short story collections and more. Over the 251 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 1: course of the next two decades, her work garnered international attention, 252 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 1: and she even had a novel serialized in The Washington Post. 253 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:02,119 Speaker 1: Yet despite her productivity a lie, Elizabeth found herself perpetually 254 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:07,880 Speaker 1: dismissed by the literary establishment. The tensions that had erupted 255 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:13,720 Speaker 1: over the Mansfield Murray affair crystallized a broader cultural divide 256 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 1: between the Bloomsbury intellectuals with their serious modernist sensibilities, and 257 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:26,400 Speaker 1: Elizabeth's more fashionable, continental approach to both life and marriages 258 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 1: and literature. In the nineteen thirties, the Princess reached out 259 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,160 Speaker 1: to Virginia wolf for support while putting together an anti 260 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 1: fascist exhibition in London, HARKing back to her teenage tenure 261 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,760 Speaker 1: as a wartime organizer. Elizabeth drew from her well of 262 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: celebrity contacts, but Virginia Wolfe was no George Bernard Shaw. 263 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 1: Wolf was suspicious of Elizabeth's politics, particularly around feminism, or 264 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,640 Speaker 1: she called it the woman in question. After a brief 265 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,640 Speaker 1: terse exchange, Wolfe made it clear that in her view, 266 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:11,680 Speaker 1: the Princess remained as shallow and politically naive as ever, 267 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,920 Speaker 1: there's no denying Elizabeth Bibesco made enemies during her life, 268 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:22,360 Speaker 1: but her writing deserves to be evaluated on its own terms. 269 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: Her work serves as a snapshot of a specific time 270 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:32,640 Speaker 1: in history, a breathy, deceptively sincere counterpoint to the Bloomsbury 271 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: Group's existentialism. Years later, the English writer Elizabeth Bowen would 272 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: write a more generous assessment of Bibesco's writing than many 273 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:48,159 Speaker 1: of her contemporaries. She noted that Elizabeth Bibesco's characters quote 274 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 1: seemed to be the inhabitants of a special millieu in 275 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:56,679 Speaker 1: which the more ordinary taboos of feeling and breaks on 276 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:02,199 Speaker 1: speech do not operate end quote. Elizabeth wrote of privileged 277 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:06,560 Speaker 1: people with big feelings, people who came through the First 278 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:10,680 Speaker 1: World War utterly changed and unsure where they fit in. 279 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: Those who survived became obsessed with the minutia of everyday life, 280 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:21,639 Speaker 1: taking nothing for granted. Her characters followed their hearts just 281 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: as she had in real life, with all the fallout 282 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:28,760 Speaker 1: that came along with it. In the end, perhaps the 283 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,920 Speaker 1: real tragedy isn't that Elizabeth Bubesco was dismissed by her 284 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: more serious literary contemporaries, but that she was born into 285 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: the wrong era. Entirely in our current age of social 286 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 1: media and personal branding. Her instinct for self promotion and 287 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: her talent for turning life into art might have made 288 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:54,480 Speaker 1: her a sensation. Instead, she found herself caught between two worlds. 289 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: A princess who wanted to be taken seriously as an 290 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 1: artist in an age that solemn intellectualism. A girl called 291 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:07,479 Speaker 1: out and ostracized for an affair in a circle where 292 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: it was nearly the norm. Catherine Mansfield no doubt got 293 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 1: the last word in their famous exchange, but hopefully history 294 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 1: has softened a bit on Princess Bibesco, a woman whose 295 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,520 Speaker 1: greatest crime may have been saying the quiet part out loud. 296 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,679 Speaker 1: That's the story of Princess Elizabeth Bibesco, But keep listening 297 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,719 Speaker 1: after a brief sponsor break for a bit more of 298 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 1: the Princess's glamorous life. Throughout her literary career, Elizabeth Bibesco 299 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: maintained a second job as ambassador's wife. She remained married 300 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,439 Speaker 1: to Antoine Bibesco, despite his affairs and hers for the 301 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,199 Speaker 1: entirety of her life, and the Bibescoes moved around with 302 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 1: Antoine's work work, first to Washington, d C and later Madrid. 303 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:08,399 Speaker 1: When World War II began, the family returned to Romania, 304 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: where Elizabeth would spend her final years. She died in 305 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:16,199 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five at just forty eight years old, and 306 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:20,439 Speaker 1: was buried in the Bibesco family graveyard. Her grave is 307 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,120 Speaker 1: inscribed with the last line of one of her collections 308 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:28,359 Speaker 1: of poetry, My soul has gained the freedom of the night. 309 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 1: It's the perfect inscription and one last reminder to her 310 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 1: lifelong commitment to main character energy. Perhaps the most telling 311 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:43,159 Speaker 1: detail about Princesses Bibesco's life comes from her obituary in 312 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: The New York Times. Quote, she narrowly escaped death in 313 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty eight when an airplane in which she was 314 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:54,720 Speaker 1: making a tour of Near East relief work crashed on 315 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:59,440 Speaker 1: a rocky beach in Greece. The plane somersaulted three times, 316 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:04,960 Speaker 1: ching passengers over a cliff into the sea. End quote. This, 317 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: to me is one of the most compelling arguments for 318 00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: a more empathetic reframe of the Princess's life. She wasn't 319 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:19,520 Speaker 1: just an architect of chaos. Sometimes the drama sought her out. 320 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and 321 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:32,119 Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me 322 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannaswick, 323 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,879 Speaker 1: Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Milaney. The show is 324 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:47,360 Speaker 1: edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producerrima Ill 325 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 1: Kaali and executive producers Aaron Mankey, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. 326 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:58,680 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 327 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:00,960 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.