Lucy Tantamount
Lord Edward's daughter, a restless beauty who collects sensations and people. Drawn from Nancy Cunard.
She wants never to be bored and never to be reproached. She wants excitement on her own terms.
The book
Point Counter Point
Aldous Huxley
At a glance
- Nancy Cunard · 1896–1965 · The heiress, poet and publisher, with whom Huxley had a brief affair before he wrote the novel.
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeLucy is the woman Walter Bidlake leaves Marjorie for, and she never wants him as much as he wants her. She fills every room with noise and people, and she treats love as one more sensation. The scholar Keith Cushman calls her a portrait of Nancy Cunard.
How Lucy Tantamount Is Portrayed
- Found at lastIn Chapter VII Walter finally finds her at the party, just come out of the dining-room, and they leave together for Sbisa's.
- The more the merrierIn Chapter XI the narrator says that near Lucy, life always became very public. Within minutes of her arrival anywhere, the room is full.
- The French flagIn Chapter XXII Philip's notebook describes her face as the French tricolour, blue round the eyes, a scarlet mouth and the rest dead white, under shiny black hair.
- Gone to ParisIn Chapter XXIV Lady Edward mentions, as if it were nothing, that Lucy has just flown off to Paris again.
- Letters from the quai VoltaireIn Chapter XXV she writes to Walter about the Louvre across the river, the mirrors at Lanvin, and evenings in Montparnasse. She suggests founding a league for the suppression of art.
- The strangerIn Chapter XXX she refuses to be reproached, and describes picking up a young Italian on the boulevard Saint-Germain. He bit her neck, and she will have to wear a scarf for days.
If you like Point Counter Point
If you like Aldous Huxley
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