The Novel on Blue Paper Author:William Morris, Penelope Fitzgerald (Editor) In the first half of 1872 William Morris worked hard at a novel. He was in a difficult emotional situation. The love affair of his wife Janey and [Dante Gabriel] Rossetti had come into the open, and even the quiet [Edward] Burne-Jones, his greatest friend, had been captivated by the tempestuous Mary Zambaco. He had already made his first Iceland... more »ic journey, and acquired Kelmscott Manor.
In the novel he tried to objectify his emotions, taking the theme of two brothers in love with the same girl, Clara. With her, Morris makes the break from pre-Raphaelite ideals and defines a healthy, natural girl, full of down-to-earth energy. His vivid account of the river-journey is the first version of a theme that reaches its culmination in "News from Nowhere". Although dissuaded by Georgiana Burne-Jones from carrying on with the novel, the completed section is an important document and an absorbing piece of writing, yet, surprisingly, has remained unpublished until now.
Penelope Fitzgerald, author of a biography of Edward Burne-Jones, has transcribed and edited the original text, and provided an introduction to what is now known as "The Novel on Blue Paper".« less