Osborne, John 282
Oxford 63, 71, 117, 193
Oxford University 9, 38, 76
Christ Church 281–2, 288
Merton College 282
New College 282–3, 293–4, 316–17, 328–31, 346
Palm Springs 180–1, 182, 183
Paolozzi, Eduardo 265, 266, 385
Paris 30, 62, 80, 85, 88, 107, 148, 222, 260–1, 265, 377, 379
Partisan Review 192, 396–7
Pasternak, Boris 238–9
Dr Zhivago 238
Pater, Walter 282
Patmos 357–9
Peace Offensive 99
Pearn, Inez
bitterness towards Spender 44
character and description 38–9
leaves Spender 49–51, 351
love affairs 38, 40
meets and marries Spender 37–40, 67, 327, 375
moves to a cottage in Kent 47
PEN Club 140, 194, 195–6, 244, 344, 350
Pensione Bencista, Fiesole 256–7
Phillips, Antonia 264, 266, 357, 382
Phillips, Jack 264–5, 270, 348, 400
Phillips, Mougouch
adventurous life 264–5
casually mentions that she killed Gorky 316
character and description 263, 264, 269–70, 272–3, 311–14
drives down to Crete with Maro and Matthew 308–9
family background 264
gives tea party for Maro and Eliza Hutchinson 266–8
idea of herself as ‘muse’ 311–12
Maro’s strong beliefs and feelings for 310–12
marriage to Arshile Gorky 264
Matthew’s view of 272–3
mentions that Encounter is paid for by the CIA 299–300
nicknamed ‘Madame Cinq à Sept’ 314
pays for the garden at Loudoun Road to be maintained 319–20
receives savage letter from Spender 283–4
refuses Spender’s offer to contribute towards cost of Maro’s wedding 374
refuses to write down her memories of Gorky 366–8
relationship with Maro 314–16
sets Maro’s birds free from their cage 399
sex and love affairs 266, 311, 312, 313–16, 398, 400
shows Matthew how an Apache gets his girl 288–9
shows Matthew and Maro how to hold and chat to their baby 389
in tears over her father’s death-bed comments 370
unhappiness on Patmos 357–8
upset at Natasha’s visit 368
Phillips, Susannah 264, 266, 357, 382, 401
Phoenix, Arizona 178, 179, 185, 189
Picasso, Pablo 62, 95, 366
Metamorphosis 270
Piper, John 270
Pitt-Rivers, Michael 131, 132
Plante, David
accompanies Spender to Provence 340
believes Spender knew about CIA involvement in Encounter 352
his relationship with Nikos approved and helped by Spender 341–2, 375
makes friends with Natasha 365–6
meets Matthew 359–61
meets Natasha 340–1
meets Nikos and is invited to live with him 338
and repeal of homosexual laws 364
Platt, Tristan 247–8
Plomer, William 33, 34
Poland 163–4
Polish Writers’ Association 163–4
Political Information Department (PID) 77–8, 350
Political Warfare Executive (PWE) 77, 350
Pollitt, Harry 41, 42–4
Pollock, Jackson 354, 390, 396
Pope-Hennessey, John 242–3
Portofino 101–3, 148
Portsmouth 71
Potter, Betty 59
Poulenc, Francis 62
Preuves 149
Price, Reynolds
anxious about Spender’s relationship with Masao 200–1
death of 203
forms an attachment to a young man at Oxford 188–9
invited to stay at Loudoun Road 175
learns of Spender’s visit to Japan 196
meets Matthew after Natasha’s death 202–3
meets Natasha 187–8
meets Spender in Venice 175
relationship with Spender 176–7, 185–6, 192–4, 328, 370
sexual experiences 201–2
Spender as helpful to his career 201
Spender’s correspondence with 221, 222, 237–8, 255, 332
Spender’s fantasy concerning 188–9
‘A Chain of Love’ 201
‘The Anniversary’ 175–6
Prokofiev, Sergei 251
Proust, Marcel 158
Provence 290–2, 340, 341
Puttock, Mr 337, 338
Rabelais, François 295
Radclyffe Hall, Marguerite, The Well of Loneliness 28
Ramparts magazine 344
Rees, Goronwy 344
Reinhardt, Wolfgang ‘Wolfie’ 260, 270
Reynal, Jeanne 395–9
Reynolds, Sir Joshua 329
Richter, Sviatoslav 251
Rickards, Jocelyn 145, 146, 148
Rimbaud, Arthur 185–6, 192, 332, 366
Rivers, Larry 276–8
Rochefoucauld, Duchesse de la 195
Rome 30
Romney Marsh 64
Ronda, Spain 368
Roosevelt, Franklin 87
Rosenberg, Elena 397
Rosenberg, Harold 396–7
Rosenberg, Mae 396
Rotherham, Mr 131
Rothschild, Beatrice 259, 260
Rothschild, Cécile de 152
Rothschild family 260
Rothschild, Jacob 260
Rothschild, Philippe de 340
Roy, Jamini 140
Rügen Island 255
Russell, Bertrand 247–8
Russia, Russians 43, 71, 76, 80, 81, 82, 107–8, 114, 142, 144, 150, 163–4, 166, 171, 229, 239, 241, 242, 246, 247–8, 253, 267, 268, 275, 276, 279, 286, 287, 334, 378
Saint-Estève 290
Salvemini, Gaetano 330, 384
Samizdat literature 378
San Francisco Conference (1948) 286
San Gimignano 389
Sarah Lawrence College (upstate New York) 93, 95
Sartre, Jean-Paul 165, 175, 260
Sassoon, Siegfried, Memoirs of a Fox-hunting Man 252
Saturday Evening Post 350
Schiller, Friedrich, Maria Stuart 216
Schlesinger, Arthur 343, 347–9, 353, 354, 395
Schnabel, Artur 98
Schroeder, Hellmut 26–7, 31
Schuster, Sir George 375
Schuster, Hilda 12, 28
Scialoja, Antonio 354
Second World War 51, 63–4, 71–82, 229
Segovia, Andrés 118
Selwyn Lloyd, John 229
Shozo (Japanese guide) 212, 213
Siena 387, 399
Silone, Ignazio 165
Silvers, Bob 346
Sintra, Portugal 244
Skardon, William 117–18
Skelgill Farm, Lake District 12
Smalley, Beryl 317
Social Realism 354
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander, Gulag Archipelago 246
Souza, Newton 140
Soviet Union 47, 142, 142–3, 144, 150, 163, 165, 236, 238, 346
Spaak, Paul-Henri 152
Spain 40, 41, 47, 51, 56, 65, 396
Spanish Civil War 40, 42–3, 85, 88, 96, 240, 351
Spender, Cosima 389, 395
Spender, Harold
Auden’s comments on 9–10
character and description 10, 12–13, 76
effect of Violet’s death on 12–13, 66
relationship with his sons 11–12
stands as Liberal candidate 10–11
Spender, Humphrey 12, 67
Spender, Lizzie 3, 60–2
on Hampstead Heath 177
in Italy 111
looked after by Natasha 151
makes friends with the Astor girls 206–7
receives present from Japan 196
sells Natasha’s house in Provence 291
studies to become an actress 390–1
in Wales 133
Spender, Maro see Gorky, Maro
Spender, Matthew
adolescent feelings concerning his parents 217–20, 226–8
argues with Stephen over Nazi death camps 233
asks Arthur Schlesinger about the CIA and Encounter 348–9
at Oxford University 293–4, 316–17, 328–31
attempts to catalogue Gorky’s paintings and drawings 366–7
attempts to kiss Eliza Hutchinson 257
bath incident on honeymoon 375
begins to cut himself off from Stephen 361–2
believes in artistic disciplines having the same initial spark 310
birth and childhood 78–9, 95, 101–2, 111–14, 116–17, 122, 124–5, 133–6
book written as gesture of mourning, affection and some revenge 401–2
buys mustachios as a disguise 292–3
change in personality due to Maro 309–10
discovers the communist bookshop 333–4
discusses Marxism with Stephen 330
discusses the subject of ‘success’ with Spender 391–3
disgusted at Chandler’s eating habits 217
disgusted at Spender’s involvement in CIA and Encounter 349
dislikes ‘The Generous Days’ by Spender 332
drinks vodka and throws up after night out at a concert 258
education 129–31, 172, 217, 223–4, 226, 228–9
explanations concerning Spender’s knowledge of CIA involvement in Encounter 350–5
feels resentment for Natasha 362–4
fidelity to Maro 399, 400–1
finds studio in Holloway 337–8
has a mastectomy 358
holiday in Wales 133–6
house rule of always saying yes 385
incident of the dead bird on the way to Edinburgh Festival 216
interested in Stephen’s life 251–2
involved in pacifism and Ban the Bomb protests 247–8
joins gang of boys in Torri del Benaco 111–14
joins the Ruskin School of Drawing, studies Japanese prints and visits the Ashmolean 294
joins the Slade 248, 249–50
learns about adjectives from Auden 7–8
learns how to argue at table 229
learns of Stephen’s homosexuality 227–8
leaves England to live in Italy 384–6
left behind in Torri 116–17, 124–5
literary discussions at Loudoun Road 294–6, 301–2
and the lobster story 135–6
marries Maro 374–5
meets and falls in love with Maro Gorky 258–61
meets Maro’s mother 264–5
meets Plante 359–61
meets Reynolds Price after Natasha’s death 202–3
nicknamed ‘Smashy’ 122
not obliged to honour his mother’s wishes 2–3
offered a place at Oxford 281–3
pain concerning the Encounter affair 350–5, 372
paints his grandmother’s flat after paint accident 384–5
parental reactions to Maro and himself as a couple 268–9
and the pocket-money incident 138–9
political discussions 334
reads The Lord of the Rings 8–9
realises he is sexually ‘straight’ 226
receives present from Japan 196
relationship with Mougouch 314–16, 399–400
remembers hearing Natasha practising at the piano 98–9
sails around the Mediterranean with Stephen and friends 151–4
sails back to England with Maro 336, 337
sees Natasha on TV 181
sells Natasha’s house in Provence 291
sent to Germany to learn German 230–2
shows Auden a poem he has written 302
spends time with Stephen 207–8
and the strawberry incident 296, 297
takes his finals and spends summer in Majorca 335–6
takes part in protest outside American Embassy 382–3
takes photos of Stephen and Reynolds Price 177
takes up fencing 243–4
tells his parents that he and Maro are getting married 359
thoughts concerning homosexuality 360–1
tries to emulate Cézanne and Matisse 289
tries to learn the piano 123–4
unable to sketch Natasha on her death-bed 2
visits the South of France 288–92, 293
vomits over valuable carpet at Chatsworth 216
washes sheets in Chania 279
watches Erika kill a goose 231–2, 233
wins poetry prize at school 172
wonders if he is over-privileged 252, 297
worried about Stephen’s behaviour during the War 154–5
writes book on Gorky 399–400
year of tackling the parent-complex 390–9
Spender, Michael
bonds with his father 12
develops a stammer 11
friendship with Auden 9–10
joins RAF Intelligence 72
marriage to Nancy 277
Spender, Nancy 277
Spender, Natasha Litvin
as accomplished musician 58, 61, 62, 64, 69, 97–9, 114, 122–4, 179, 190, 199, 215, 217
acquires a house in Provence 290–2, 340, 341
acquires a knitting machine 217
agrees to meet Bryan Obst 197, 199–200
anxious about money 89, 155, 158, 369
appears in a dream to Matthew 4
at Torri del Benaco 111–12, 114, 118–20
attends London University 322, 362
attitude towards Stephen’s continuing male sexual preferences 88, 89, 188, 193–4, 340
awkwardness at Mougouch’s tea party 266–8
belief in family 206–7
character and description 89, 91, 297, 316, 370–1, 400
comment on sexual relationships 35–6
comment on taking and retaining a lover 322–3
concerts in America 172–3, 177, 180, 182
concerts in London 93, 116, 146, 155
considers converting to Christianity 94
convalesces in Switzerland as guest of Hansi 159
courtship 63–4
death and funeral 1–3, 202
disapproves of Matthew’s life at Chapel Street 367, 368
‘encouraged’ to practise the piano as a child 55
fails to read Stephen’s autobiography 170
family background 58–62
fantasy beliefs concerning Spender 370–2
feelings of love and rejection 141–2
feels sense of inadequacy or as a nun in retreat 198–200
as a fiendish tourist 256–7
frugality and insurance claims 139
gives up the piano for two years 321–2
has an operation 155–6, 157
has a genuine cockney accent 224
helps Matthew with his homework 223–4
interested in religious experience 181
introspections 57–8, 91
invited to stay with Chandler in America 173–4, 177–85
joins the Apollo Society 75–6
looks after Lizzie 151
makes derogatory remarks concerning Stephen 208–9
makes friends with Nikos and Plante 340, 365–6
Matthew’s adolescent feelings for 218–20
meets her father for the first time 60–2
meets Maro 265–6
meets and marries Stephen 55–7, 67–9
never considered Stephen’s equal 309, 362–4
operation and recuperation for cancer 319–23
plays the piano for inmates of Belsen 81–2
reaction to Chandler’s death 2
25
(Spender, Natasha Litvin, cont.)
reaction to Matthew and Maro as a couple 268, 277, 284, 296
reaction to Matthew and Maro getting married 359
relationship with Chandler 3, 145–8, 155–61, 169–71, 173–4, 177–85, 189–92, 208–11
sells Dr No for a colossal sum 156
spends a summer at Portofino 101–3
Stephen’s feelings for 214–16
strained relationship with Maro and her granddaughters 305–8
stuns Tony with music 75
suffers whiplash in a car accident 173, 177–8
teaches Visual Perception at RCA 362–3
tensions and emotions 88–94
treasures an experience influenced by morphine 320–1
tries to persuade Matthew not to marry Maro 374
uses a Ouija board to ask about Encounter 342
views Mougouch with suspicion 272–4, 374
and the ‘Wittersham Interlude’ 64–7, 198
Spender, Philip 277
Spender, Saskia 202, 387
Spender, Stephen
acquiesces to Natasha staying with Chandler 178–9
in America 126–7, 172
amorous adventures 20, 22, 23, 24–7, 34
appointed to the George Elliston Chair for Poetry 126–7
arguments and discussions with Matthew 233, 330, 381–2, 391–3
asked to write libretto for Nabokov 167–8
at Torri del Benaco 114, 118–20
attempts to help Masao 211–14
attempts to rescue Tony from Spanish authorities 42–4
attitude towards ‘guilt’ 16, 17, 19, 23, 65–6, 67, 89, 196, 342, 371
belief in link between creativity and sex 370–1
belief in truth 4
belief in ‘vision’ 309–10
calls Auden’s imagination ‘medieval’ 10
calls Dwight Mcdonald a ‘cracklepotty’ 221, 222
celebrates his fiftieth birthday 224
as chairman of the English branch of the CCF 108–10, 350
character and description 15–16, 44, 45, 138, 355
CIA involvement in his life 285, 299, 343–6, 351
co-edits Encounter 126–7, 128–9
co-writes the libretto for The Rake’s Progress 390
comment on fellow CCF members 151
comments on art and artists 270–1, 335
comments on Burgess and Maclean 114–15, 117–18
comments on poetry 255–6
commissioned to translate Maria Stuart by Schiller for the Edinburgh Festival 216
confusion over his sexuality 34–6, 91
considered a member of the British Establishment 243–5
considers communism vs pro-America thinking 99–101
correspondence with Pasternak 238–9
death of 202
determined that Matthew should go to Oxford University 282–3
disturbed at Matthew’s academic ambition 330–1
embarrassing remarks on Matthew’s total recall of events 395
expectations from love 327–8
A House in St John's Wood Page 44
