Silvia Tebrick, the 24-year-old wife of Richard Tebrick, suddenly becomes a fox while they are out walking in the woods. Mr. Tebrick sends away all the servants in an attempt to keep Silvia's new nature a secret, although Silvia's childhood nurse returns. While Silvia initially acts human, insisting on wearing clothing and playing piquet, her behaviour increasingly becomes that characteristic of a vixen, causing the husband a great deal of anguish. Eventually, Mr. Tebrick releases Silvia into the wild, where she gives birth to five kits, whom Tebrick names and plays with every day. Despite Tebrick's efforts to protect Silvia and her cubs, she is ultimately killed by dogs during a fox hunt; Tebrick, who tried to save Silvia from the dogs, is badly wounded, but eventually recovers.
Rebecca West described Lady Into Fox as one of the "best imaginative productions" of the decade.[1]
The success of the novel resulted in several imitations. They included a parody by Christopher Ward (1868–1943) Gentleman Into Goose (1924), while Vercors' homage Sylva (1961), depicts a fox transforming into a woman.[2]
Adaptation
In 1939, British choreographer Andrée Howard created a musical work of the same name based on Garnett's book for Ballet Rambert. Sally Gilmour dancing Silvia Tebrick assured the ballet's success. The music was an arrangement of piano pieces by Arthur Honegger (Sept pièces brèves and Toccata et variations), setting and costumes designed by Nadia Benois.[3][4][5]
References
^"Thus it happens that all the best imaginative productions of the last decade in England – Walter de la Mare's "Memoirs of a Midget", David Garnett's "Lady Into Fox", Sylvia Townsend Warner's "Mr. Fortune's Maggot", A. E. Coppard's "Best Short Stories" and Virginia Woolf's "Orlando" – have all been in the nature of fantasies". Rebecca West, "A London Letter", The Bookman, May 1929, (p. 293).
^Neil Barron, Fantasy and Horror : a critical and historical guide to literature, illustration, film, TV, radio, and the Internet. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 1999. ISBN0810835967 (p. 116)
