Cyril Connolly - Marriage

Marriage

In February 1930, Connolly and Bakewell set off for America. They married in New York on 5 April 1930. Jean Bakewell "was to prove one of the more liberating forces in his life... an uncomplicated hedonist, independent, adventurous, celebrating the moment...an attractive personality: warm, generous, witty and approachable ..." She provided modest financial support that enabled him to enjoy travels, particularly around the Mediterranean, hospitality and good food and drink. The newly married couple lived in various spots in England including the Cavendish Hotel, Bury Street, Bath and Big Chilling before settling in July 1930 at Sanary near Toulon in France. There their close neighbours were Edith Wharton and Aldous Huxley. Although Connolly admired Huxley, the two men failed to establish a rapport, and the wives fell out. Connolly's bohemian home with the disorder of the lemurs was shunned and with debts rising they were forced to scrounge off Jean's mother. Some time in 1931 they left Sanary and toured Provence, Normandy, Brittany, Spain, Morocco and Majorca, before returning to Chagford in Dorset. In November they found a flat near Belgrave Square, and Connolly made his first contribution to the New Statesman for two years. Connolly was also approached by John Betjeman of the Architectural Review to act as an art critic.

Connolly's art critiques appeared in the magazine in 1932 and he visited Betjeman at his home at Uffington. There he would meet Evelyn Waugh, who delighted in teasing Connolly. The Connollys enjoyed being part of a sophisticated literary social scene in London, but towards the end of the year, Jean had to undergo a gynaecological operation. As a result, she could not have a child, and it was hard for her to control her weight.

In February 1933 Connolly took Jean to Greece to recover, where they met Brian Howard. While they were in Athens there was an attempted coup d'état, which Connolly later reported in the New Statesman as "Spring Revolution". The Connollys then went with Howard and his boyfriend to Spain and the Algarve. After a row in a bar they were incarcerated in a police cell and were sent back to England with the help of the British Embassy. In June, encouraged by Enid Bagnold, they rented a house at Rottingdean. Writing to Bagnold from Cannes in September, Jean complained that their cheques were being bounced and she asked Bagnold to appeal to her husband Sir Roderick Jones of Reuters for help in work. This was dismissed and in November the letting agents for the Rottingdean property wrote an appalling report on the state in which the Connollys had left the place.

Early in 1934 the Connollys took a flat at 312A Kings Road, where they entertained their friends, including Waugh and Quennell. Elizabeth Bowen arranged a dinner with Virginia Woolf and her husband when Connolly and Virginia Woolf took an instant dislike to each other. During the year the Connollys went to Mallow and Cork in Ireland. At the end of the year Connolly met Dylan Thomas at a party and early in 1935 invited him in the company of Anthony Powell, Waugh, Robert Byron and Desmond and Mollie McCarthy. By this time Connolly's father was finding himself short of funds and was no longer prepared to bail out his son. However Mrs Warner, Jean's mother funded an expedition to Paris, Juan-les-Pins, Venice, Yugoslavia and Budapest. In Paris, Connolly spent some time with Jack Kahane, the avant garde publisher, and Henry Miller, with whom he established a strong rapport after an initial unsuccessful meeting. In Budapest they found themselves in the same hotel as Edward, Prince of Wales and Mrs Simpson. In 1934 Connolly was working on a trilogy: Humane Killer, The English Malady and The Rock Pool. Only The Rock Pool was completed, the others remaining as fragments.