Julian Grenfell

I just finished reading Julian Grenfell, one of the Persephone Books and really enjoyed it, even though I think it has the wrong title. It really is less about Julian Grenfell and more about his mother, Ettie Grenfell, although it does all lead up to the understanding of Julian's attitude towards WWI and it does help build a better picture, culturally, of why the British were ill prepared to fight that war.

I had never heard of the Grenfells when I purchased this book and I certainly didn't know anything about the Souls or the culture of the English aristocracy at the turn of the last century. I understood even less about what 'going to war' meant back then.

Here are the things that struck me while reading this book.

1. Ettie Grenfell was a manipulative flirt and was much respected for that. I can't fathom an upper class woman today (2010) who would want to develop a reputation like that, or rather, a professional woman today doing that. But as I learned, the aristocracy back then was all about self gratification and ego. A friend of mine from South Africa once commented to me that the problem with American professional women is that we don't utilize the one asset we have which no man has...our femininity. He was right in that for the last 50 years or more, women here have been 'taught' to act like men, dress like men, and never flaunt their sexuality in the work environment. Now Ettie as a 19th and 20th century aristocrat didn't technically have a work environment, but she certainly had the ear of many powerful and influential men and she completely flaunted her sexuality.
2. Going to war in 1915 was sort of like going to a grand resort. Julian wrote wonderful letters about his first deployment to India...riding his horse, riding to training, riding home from training, riding to luncheon, riding to look good in his tight riding pants. He seemed to even be making fun of the amount of riding he did each day. When he was deployed to Europe to fight near Ypres, he sent for his 3 greyhounds. Imagine today, a soldier in Iran 'sending' for his dogs.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was fascinating to learn about the culture of the aristocracy. Julian Grenfell was a good writer and I liked reading his letters which seemed to poke at the world in which he had grown up.