Title: According to Queeney
First published: 2001
Description: "The literary world of Georgian London and the more private arena of its most celebrated man of letters, Samuel Johnson, come to life in this tale of unrequited love and compelling passion. Although melancholia and the gout have jaded the middle-aged Dr. Johnson's palate for society, the eminent, if increasingly irascible lexicographer nonetheless accepts an introduction to the excellent table of the wealthy Southwark brewer Henry Thrale.

So it is that an evening in 1764, instead of meeting Johnson's very low expectations, takes him into the social orbit of the charming, vivacious Mrs. Thrale - and marks the beginning of an extraordinary relationship that will span the final two decades of his life. As Johnson settles more and more comfortably into his niche among the Thrales, the family's already hectic domain is thrown further into lively chaos by the literary giant's retinue of sycophants, admirers, scholars, and friends like the illustrious actor David Garrick, poet Oliver Goldsmith, novelist Fanny Burney, and painter Joshua Reynolds.

Ambiguities have meanwhile begun to complicate the bond between Johnson and Mrs. Thrale. Possessiveness vies with rejection, and sexual tensions stir beneath the decorous surfaces of everyday life."--BOOK JACKET.
Subjects: Biographical fiction, Fiction, Authors, Mothers and daughters, Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784, Piozzi, Hester Lynch, 1741-1821, Keith, Hester Maria Elphinstone, Viscountess, 1762-1857, Large type books, New York Times reviewed, Fiction, historical, London (england), fiction, Mothers and daughters, fiction, Authors, fiction, Fiction, historical, general, History
Places: London (England)
People: Hester Maria Elphinstone Keith Viscountess (1762-1857), Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), Hester Lynch Piozzi (1741-1821), Hester Maria Elphinstone Keith Viscountess (1764-1857)
LC classification: PR6052.A3195 A64 2001