Although Rebecca West was once hailed “the world's number one woman's writer” by Time magazine, the diversity and generic indeterminacy of her writings make it difficult to assess her literary status. She is probably better known for the brilliance of her non-fiction – reportage, travel, history, biography, literary criticism – than for her sometimes over-intellectualized novels. Her distinction was to write about the factual world with formidable erudition, but also with an imaginative awareness of its ambiguities. Although West's range and versatility might suggest a protean literary personality, her writing voice was, at any time and in any genre, instantly recognisable, and her preoccupying myths remained largely the same throughout her long life. First and foremost she was, in the intransitive sense, a writer – of rhythmic, majestic, epiphanic, occasionally narcissistic prose.
Rebecca West...
2452 words
Citation: Robinson, Richard Peter. "Rebecca West". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 December 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4671, accessed 13 December 2025.]
