Ford Madox Ford

Ford Madox Ford  Joseph Leopold Ford Hermann Madox Hueffer  17 December 1873 – 26 June
1939) was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals The English Review and The
Transatlantic Review were instrumental in the development of early 20th-century English and
American literature.
Ford is now remembered for his novels The Good Soldier (1915), the Parade's End tetralogy (1924–
28) and The Fifth Queen trilogy (1906–08). The Good Soldier is frequently included among the great
literature of the 20th century, including the Modern Library 100 Best Novels, The Observer′s "100
Greatest Novels of All Time", and The Guardian′s "1000 novels everyone must read".

Early life[edit]
Ford was born in Wimbledon in London,[2] to Catherine Madox Brown and Francis Hueffer, the eldest
of three; his brother was Oliver Madox Hueffer and his sister was Juliet Catherine Emma Hueffer,
the wife of David Soskice and mother of Frank Soskice. Ford's father, who became music critic
for The Times, was German and his mother English. His paternal grandfather Johann Hermann
Hüffer was first to publish Westphalian poet and author Annette von Droste-Hülshoff. He was named
after his maternal grandfather, the Pre-Raphaelite painter Ford Madox Brown, whose biography he
would eventually write. His mother's older half-sister was Lucy Madox Brown, the wife of William
Michael Rossetti and mother of Olivia Rossetti Agresti.

Personal life
In 1894, Ford eloped with his school girlfriend Elsie Martindale. The couple were married
in Gloucester and moved to Bonnington. In 1901, they moved to Winchelsea.[3] They had two
daughters, Christina (born 1897) and Katharine (born 1900).[4] Ford's neighbours in Winchelsea
included the authors Henry James and H.G. Wells.[3]
In 1904, Ford suffered an agoraphobic breakdown due to financial and marital problems. He went to
Germany to spend time with family there and undergo cure treatments.[3]
In 1909, Ford left his wife and set up home with English writer Isobel Violet Hunt, with whom he
published the literary magazine The English Review. Ford's wife refused to divorce him and he
attempted to become a German citizen in order to obtain a divorce in Germany. This was
unsuccessful. A reference in an illustrated paper to Violet Hunt as "Mrs Ford Madox Hueffer" gave
rise to a successful libel action being brought by Mrs Ford in 1913. Ford's relationship with Hunt did
not survive the First World War.[5]
Ford used the name of Ford Madox Hueffer, but he changed it to Ford Madox Ford after World War
I[6] in 1919 because "Hueffer" sounded too Germanic.

Reception[edit]
Ford is best remembered for his novels The Good Soldier (1915), the Parade's End tetralogy (1924–
1928) and The Fifth Queen trilogy (1906–1908).