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Selina Hastings (writer)

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Selina Hastings
Born (1945-03-05) 5 March 1945 (age 79)
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • author
  • biographer
NationalityBritish
EducationSt Hugh's College, Oxford (MA)
ParentsFrancis Hastings, 16th Earl of Huntingdon
Margaret Lane
Hastings ancestral coat of arms

Lady Selina Shirley Hastings (born 5 March 1945) is a British journalist, author and biographer.

Biography

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The elder daughter of Francis, 16th Earl of Huntingdon, by his second marriage to Margaret Lane,[1] Hastings was educated at St Hugh's College, Oxford, where she took an MA degree.[2]

Hastings's books include Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady (1985), Nancy Mitford (1986), The Singing Ringing Tree, The Man Who Wanted to Live Forever (both 1988), The Firebird, Evelyn Waugh (both 1995), Beibl Lliw Y Plant (1998), Rosamond Lehmann (2002) and The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham (2010). She is a past recipient of the Marsh Biography Award.[3]

Reviewing Nancy Mitford for The New York Times, William McBrien questioned Hastings' sparse documentation of some of the facts in the book. He praised the book for its depiction of that historical period.[4] Evelyn Waugh was reviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and The Spectator.[5][6][7] Rosamond Lehmann was reviewed in The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph.[8][9] The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham was reviewed in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.[10][11][12][13]

Hastings was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1994.[14] Among others she and her sister, Lady Harriet Shackleton, are in remainder to several ancient English baronies, including those of Hastings and Botreaux.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "ThePeerage.com, p. 7908". ThePeerage.com. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Debrett's People of Today". Debretts.com. 5 March 1945. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  3. ^ International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004. Europa Publications. 2003. p. 238. ISBN 978-1-85743-179-7. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  4. ^ McBrien, William (17 August 1986). "O Brave U World". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  5. ^ Kenner, Hugh (16 April 1995). "Hell was other people". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  6. ^ Sevenson, Sinclair (30 October 1994). "Keeping his gin, not his chin, up". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  7. ^ Kane, Russell. "'Evelyn Waugh: A Biography', by Selina Hastings – review". The Spectator. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  8. ^ Clark, Alex (7 June 2002). "O I must tell Osbert!". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  9. ^ Picardie, Justine (15 June 2002). "A problem with beauty". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  10. ^ Leavitt, David (22 July 2010). "Lives of the Novelists: Somerset Maugham". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  11. ^ Sansom, Ian (18 September 2009). "The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham by Selina Hastings". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  12. ^ Dirda, Michael (20 May 2010). "Selina Hastings's 'The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham,' reviewed by Michael Dirda". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  13. ^ Rayner, Richard (30 May 2010). "Book review: 'The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham' by Selina Hastings". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  14. ^ "Royal Society of Literature, RSL Fellows". RSLiterature.org. Retrieved 1 April 2015.