The Illumination of Ursula Flight is a well written historical novel that will appeal to fans of Philippa Gregory. It is a humerous tale of a young girl’s journey towards becoming a playwright, and the challenges and hardships she faces along the way.
Born after many stillbirths and under an auspicious comet, Ursula (named for the great bear constellation) was never going to have an ordinary life. Educated by her father at a time when women were to be seen and not heard and expected to marry.
Aged 7, Ursula encountered a Drury Lane actress, and fell in love with with the idea of acting. By eight, her father was educating her in literature, languages, drama, astronomy and more. Ursula also began writing her own plays and putting them on with friends.
But at fifteen, her mother saw to it that she was given to a man twenty years her elder in marriage. Lord Tyringham’s position in the House of Lords regularly took him from his Wiltshire estate. Would her husband indulge Ursula’s love of theatre and take her to Drury Lane when he went to London? Would she get to meet the King and Queen?
Crowhurst’s tale follows Ursula through a childhood cut abruptly short, an unhappy marriage, and a short-lived affair that sees her fending for herself in London. Told in a first-person narrative, Ursula shows herself to be clever and determined, although she is sometimes quite shallow, and she is certainly well ahead of her time with regards her attitude and independence. As well as Ursula’s narrative, there are her plays (or parts thereof), her many lists, letters sent and received, her rules, her diary, transcripts of conversations and an agenda.
While there are quite a few unhappy times for Ursula, there’s also quite a bit of humour and, overall, this is an easy and enjoyable read.