the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 

 
 
 

Record Number: 33606


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

I was also pained but amused at the pink, paper- bound novels that went about: I asked my neighbour to read me a paragraph, and this was it: "'Good God,' said Susanna: 'what will my mother say when she hears that I have dropped my new eyelashes into the champagne?'"

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 18 Dec 1933 and 28 Feb 1934

Country:

England

Time

daytime

Place:

city: London
London
specific address: Dollis Hill Hospital
location in dwelling: ward

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown


Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Listener:

Freya Stark

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

31 Jan 1893

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Travel writer

Religion:

Christian

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

[Anon] [Anon]

Title:

[unknown romance novel]

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

paperback in pink covers

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

33606

Source:

Print

Author:

Freya Stark

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Coast of Incense: Autobiography 1933-1939

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1953

Vol:

n/a

Page:

17

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Freya Stark, The Coast of Incense: Autobiography 1933-1939, (London, 1953), p. 17, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33606, accessed: 18 February 2026


Additional Comments:

Dame Freya Madeline Stark (31 January 1893 - 9 May 1993) was a British traveller and explorer. Stark was a patient in Dollis Hill Hospital between 18 December 1933 and 28 February 1934, when she had corrective cosmetic surgery to injuries to her face and scalp sustained in childhood.