“Like Edmond Rostand, we too live in dark and cynical times. We too need the moral and spiritual tonic that his work provided to so many millions during his tragically brief life.
That is why I so admire the similarly single-minded, one-woman mission of literary scholar Sue Lloyd: to keep alive Edmond Rostand's literary and spiritual legacy with articles, her Genge Press website and -- most of all -- this magisterial biography of the playwright and poet. Befitting her subject and his hero Cyrano, Ms. Lloyd's book exudes panache.
"The Man Who Was Cyrano" is the first English language biography of Edmond Rostand. It is a volume of meticulous historical detective work, breathtaking in scope, brilliantly compiled, and beautifully written. I am in awe over the stunning amount of detailed research that Ms. Lloyd has systematically marshaled, organized, and presented in just 360 compelling pages.
Striding across these pages are the colorful giants of nineteenth-century arts: legendary actors like Sarah Bernhardt and Constant Coquelin, plus noted literary and musical figures such as Musset, Cocteau, Chabrier, Gautier, Hugo, Faure, Le Bargy, Proust, and many, many more. More than a biography, the book colorfully captures a half-century of glorious flourishing in the arts.
Most of all, Ms. Lloyd's passion for Rostand, his work, and his mission pours forth from every page. She tells us that she is on her own mission: to resurrect for contemporary readers the soul of this extraordinary man, whose greatness of spirit equalled that of any of his literary creations.
"The Man Who Was Cyrano" is the perfect title for this seminal biography of the last of the nineteenth-century Romantics. I am thrilled to have discovered this soaring chronicle of his life. Inspired by Sue Lloyd, a photo of Edmond Rostand now hangs above my own writing desk -- a reminder to me to soldier on at the keyboard whenever my own spirit begins to flag. “
Robert Bidinotto, author of The Dylan Hunter series
