Newman and his Family
As in his first book, Edward Short artfully portrays here the personal influences that formed the character and mind of John Henry Newman. Where Newman and His Contemporaries successfully re-positioned the man among a constellation of his cultural and literary fellows, Newman and His Family charts out the shifting angles and dimensions of a tighter, more powerful ring of influences around the Victorian sage: his father, mother, brothers, sisters, and nephew. Again, Short's well-wrought chapters, with their characteristic grace, aplomb, and light-borne wit, bring a much-wanted human richness to our understanding of a man we are only beginning to know.--Dwight Lindley,Assistant Professor of English, Hillsdale College, USA Newman and his Family is a psychological and spiritual voyage around the great Cardinal in the often fraught context of his familial relationships, which will be fascinating equally to Catholics, other faiths and unbelievers. Newman himself said that there was nothing more interesting than the ten thousand little details and complications of daily life and family history. With the wisdom of empathy, Edward Short's gift is to let us hear Newman speak in his own voice, so distant from our own times and yet still so immediate. In this meticulously researched and lovingly written book, Newman has found his ideal biographer.--Angela Thirlwell,Author of 'William and Lucy: the other Rossettis' and 'Into the Frame: the four loves of Ford Madox Brown''Newman and his Family is one of the most remarkable books I have read in many years. For newcomers it presents Newman from within, as he really was. For those already familiar with Newman's writings, Edward Short brings informed, refreshing, always original, and sometimes provocative insight into the greatest English religious figure of his time and ours. Here is Newman as understood by, and not understood by his family--and what a family! This often gripping book deserves to find a wide readership. I suspect it will become a classic.--Dermot Fenlon,The Birmingham Oratory, UKEdward Short's Newman and his Family is "a work of great sympathetic  insight, intelligent reading and wide-ranging imagination which I would  recommend unreservedly to all Newman scholars...  masterly..."--Catholic HeraldEdward Short's Newman and his Family is "learned, delightful and fascinating."--First Things"Meticulously  researched and elegantly written, Edward Short’s book is a volume  worthy of a man who in a long life (1801-1890) played with distinction  many parts – priest, educator, theologian, philosopher, apologist,  preacher, novelist, poet, satirist, sage, friend and likely saint...  I  heartily recommend this work...” --The Catholic Leader, Brisbane, Australia"…  an important, fascinating, and well-researched exploration of the  family context and influence on Newman’s life and thought.” --Geoffrey Rowell, The Church Times“Edward  Short has written an elegant and erudite book, showing how Newman  struggled in his thought to respond to his relatives’ views whilst  answering ‘the call of charity’…  It will benefit any level of  university student or intelligent layperson who reads it.”--Christopher Villiers, The Theological ReviewNewman and his Family "is excellent, at once scholarly and moving. It gives deep and original insights into a man and a family whose tragedies and tensions were emblematic of their age. This is a volume which does not simply enrich our understanding of Newman; it brings a human note to the larger religious and political dramas of Victorian England and thus to the background of our present age. One can hardly wait for the third volume to see what Short will make of the critics, especially the unfortunate Charles Kingsley, doomed to be forever remembered as the immediate cause of Newman’s finest literary hour."--Carl Trueman, First Things"Short devotes a chapter to Newman’s father and mother, and one to each of the siblings. He adds another, crucially important chapter, on Newman’s correspondence with his nephew, John Rickards Mozley, eldest son of his sister Jemima. For the most part, the chapters draw from the letters exchanged between Newman and the person in question. But Short, the author of a fine volume entitled Newman and His Contemporaries, also provides ample excurses on other writings of Newman, as well as representative figures of Victorian England. ...Edward Short’s superb knowledge of 19th century English literature and history illumines his presentation. ...Of all the members of the family, undoubtedly the one closest to Newman’s heart was his mother, Jemima Fourdrinier, of Huguenot heritage. Short writes: 'Newman had a deep bond with his mother—one forged in heartbreak and loss, as well as love and affection—and it showed him not only the vanity of human wishes but the wisdom of empathy.' That 'empathy' is apparent in the letters Newman exchanged, not only with family, but with countless men and women over the course of his long and fruitful life. Empathy also marks Edward Short’s wise study."--  Robert P. Imbelli,America Magazine