Going into the vast marquee at Doris Lessing’s funeral, I found an old friend. Old indeed, making his way on two sticks and somewhat deaf.
In fact, this was my retired publisher, Tom Maschler, who had been in charge of Jonathan Cape back in my time with them. I will give one example – there are many others – of why I valued him and call him friend.
Reflecting ruefully on what I considered the dull state of England, I created an exotic mirror-state I christened Malacia. The novel I built round it became The Malacia Tapestry. At that period, I had fallen under the spell of the painter G.B.Tiepolo. Tiepolo had painted most of the ceilings of grand state offices in Europe, from Stockholm to Wurtzburg. I travelled to Wurtzberg to see that grand panorama on the ceiling of the Bishop’s palace. High above one, and depicting the four continents, hang eledany (?) persons and animals in the most voluptuous colours.
Tiepolo eventually retired to Venice, his old home. There he constructed his brilliant scherzi. Strange figures lurk behind fires and smoke and altars. All is skill and mystery.
I reproduced one of these brilliant miniatures and set it on the cover of my manuscript. I then thought that, after all, my story might seem a touch boring, so I reproduced another half-dozen scherzi and interleaved them between the pages of the novel. Then I posted off the whole caboodle to Maschler at Cape.
This happened to be the time of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Tom Maschler attended. He took my novel ms with him in his luggage. Flying back afterwards, he started to read. What dedication! He liked the novel, he loved those scherzi.
He phoned me when back at his desk. Yes, he liked the novel, and he wanted the scherzi in the book. And of course we had to have a Tiepolo for the jacket.
He was not a man to hang back.
That was why, just a few evenings ago, Alison and I sat with Tom at Doris’s funeral.
Why, what a beautiful book Tom and I made, back in 1976! – with a little help from Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
