The Autobiography of Maud Gonne: A Servant of the Queen Book

This is the autobiography of the woman sometimes called "Ireland's Joan of Arc". Maud Gonne (1866-1953) was not only an Irish Rebel from the days of Ireland's War of Independence and Civil War and a social activist throughout her life, but she was a non-conformist feminist to rival any feminist of modern times. On top of that, she was W.B. Yeat's muse who inspired much of his poetry and turned down all of his many proposals of marriage. I really like her statement that "history will thank me" for not marrying him. She believed his unhappiness over her refusals was one of the things that fueled is writing, thus we have Yeat's poetry and are thankful for it! She also rationalized that, since writing made him happy, his happiness came from his unhappiness! I love that logic.

Due to the sensibilities of the time Maude had to gloss over a few things in her life, such as her long time love affair with the French journalist and political activist, Lucien Millevoye and the two children this affair produced. Although a biography of her life would give a more detailed and accurate rendering of actual events, the benefit of reading this autobiography was that I felt transported through her eyes into that time and place in history in a way no third party could provide. Also, like many women, Maude writes with a nod toward the human aspect of her life, giving details of the people, conversations and her feelings about situations more than a dry chronology of events that took place. Personally, this is the sort of writing I enjoy and absorb the most.