Wonderful piece. My father (b1929) went to Bembridge, so may well have known Dearden. I shall ask. I remember reading (and hugely enjoying) The King of the Golden River as a child. In my memory it’s a sort of syncretic fable - part Nordic myth, part Grimm fairy tale, though of course those two categories already intersect.
Delighted to come across this piece! My novel, Each Leaf, Each Curve Of Stem (Bloomsbury, 2026), explores Ruskin's life in the mid 1870s and I hope will serve as a corrective to the unsympathetic portrayals of late.
Wonderful piece. My father (b1929) went to Bembridge, so may well have known Dearden. I shall ask. I remember reading (and hugely enjoying) The King of the Golden River as a child. In my memory it’s a sort of syncretic fable - part Nordic myth, part Grimm fairy tale, though of course those two categories already intersect.
Aha! Thanks, I'd love to know if the other Mr Eaves remembers him.
I'm fascinated by Ruskin, but not always in a good way...https://open.substack.com/pub/harkness/p/john-ruskin-and-the-winnington-schoolgirls?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=gqpmg
Thanks, Sarah. Yes, I see what you mean..
Delighted to come across this piece! My novel, Each Leaf, Each Curve Of Stem (Bloomsbury, 2026), explores Ruskin's life in the mid 1870s and I hope will serve as a corrective to the unsympathetic portrayals of late.